{"id":1820368,"date":"2026-03-11T13:09:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1820368"},"modified":"2026-03-11T13:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:09:04","slug":"snowbrains-forecast-3-5-feet-for-the-washington-cascades-in-the-pnw-through-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1820368","title":{"rendered":"SnowBrains Forecast: 3-5 Feet for the Washington Cascades in the PNW Through Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"ECMWF
Credit: WeatherBell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A long, productive storm cycle will keep the Washington Cascades favored through Saturday afternoon, while Oregon stays warmer and more wind-affected.<\/strong> Confidence is highest from Wednesday morning through Saturday afternoon, when steady snow stacks up to 36″-57″<\/strong><\/span> at the biggest Washington winners, around 25″-34″<\/strong><\/span> at Mt Baker, and a denser but still healthy 34″-46″<\/strong><\/span> at Timberline. Whistler should do well with a colder 12″-15″<\/strong><\/span> from the main push, while Mt Bachelor stays on the fringes near 6″-9″<\/strong><\/span>. After that, another warmer wave looks possible Sunday into Monday, again favoring the north, but snowfall detail drops off quickly beyond Saturday.<\/p>\n

The guidance is tightly clustered on a long-duration Wednesday through Saturday storm aimed at Washington and southern British Columbia.<\/strong> Snow starts Wednesday morning, ramps through Wednesday afternoon and night, and then keeps cycling in waves through Friday night before tapering Saturday afternoon. Stevens Pass and the central Washington Cascades are best positioned for the deepest totals, with Crystal Mountain close behind, while Mt Baker stays a notch lower but still solidly snowy. Snow levels during the heaviest Washington periods mostly run between 1,000 and 3,500 feet, occasionally dropping lower Thursday into Friday, so the upper mountains stay all snow and lower elevations improve as the colder air settles in. Snow quality is not uniform: Baker and Whistler spend more time in the 11-17 SLR range for lighter turns, while Stevens, Crystal, and especially Timberline run denser, often 5-12 SLR and locally 3-9 SLR in Oregon. Exposed ridges stay windy, with the roughest conditions at Timberline and Mt Bachelor where gusts can push 70-90 mph or a bit higher.<\/p>\n

From Sunday afternoon through Monday night, the guidance diverges sharply on both the coverage and warmth of the next Pacific wave.<\/strong> The common signal is that Whistler, Mt Baker, and Stevens Pass have the best chance to pick up more snow, but this period is better framed as potential than a precise call. A realistic early take is another 8″-18″<\/strong><\/span> for Whistler and Mt Baker, roughly 4″-10″<\/strong><\/span> at Stevens Pass, and only a coating to about 1″-4″<\/strong><\/span> at Crystal Mountain and the Snoqualmie area if snow levels rise into the 2,500-4,500 feet range as several solutions suggest. Timberline looks warmer than snowy in this stretch, with only spotty upper-mountain accumulation and dense snow if it falls at all. Winds ease back compared with the first storm, so snow level and coverage matter more than wind for the ski product. For open terrain, the northern Washington resorts and Whistler hold the best odds for another worthwhile refresh.<\/p>\n

Beyond Monday, agreement shifts from storm details to the broader pattern, and that pattern leans milder overall with the storm track closest to Washington.<\/strong> That keeps periodic refresh chances alive across Washington and southern British Columbia through late next week, while Oregon looks less reliable and more exposed to warm, mixed intervals. Most of the longer-range guidance keeps those later waves smaller and less certain than the Wednesday through Saturday storm, although one longer-range solution is notably snowier late next week than the rest. That means skiers should expect more variable snow quality in the central and southern Cascades, especially at lower elevations, while higher terrain in the north has the better chance to stay winter-like. Snoqualmie Pass is closed, so its big snowfall signal matters more as a marker for central Cascade storm placement than as an immediate lift-served option.<\/p>\n

Resort Forecast Totals (Wed Mar 11 \u2013 Sat Mar 14)<\/h2>\n
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  • Stevens Pass<\/strong> \u2013 41″-57″<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Snoqualmie Pass<\/strong> \u2013 36″-51″<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Crystal Mountain<\/strong> \u2013 36″-50″<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Timberline<\/strong> \u2013 34″-46″<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Mt Baker<\/strong> \u2013 25″-34″<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Whistler<\/strong> \u2013 12″-15″<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Mt Bachelor<\/strong> \u2013 6″-9″<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Credit: WeatherBell A long, productive storm cycle will keep the Washington Cascades favored through Saturday afternoon, while Oregon stays warmer and more wind-affected. Confidence is highest from Wednesday morning through Saturday afternoon, when steady snow stacks up to 36″-57″ at the biggest Washington winners, around 25″-34″ at Mt Baker, and a denser but still healthy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,267],"class_list":["post-1820368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-snowbrains-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1820368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1820368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1820368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1820368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}