Weather Synopsis for Wednesday & Thursday

A sharp cold front blew through the area last delivering far more wind than snow to the region. Extreme W winds at upper elevations registered multiple hours of 100mph gusts at Magic Mile on Mt Hood and Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier. Strong overnight W winds in the 5000-6000' are starting to relax this morning. Post-frontal showers behind the front will be pretty inconsequential today outside a lingering convergence zone. Even the convergence zone will have limited impact as it hews to the western mountains of Skagit and Snohomish counties before dissipating by mid-day.  Temperatures have dropped 20-25F(!) from yesterday afternoon's high temperatures and snow/freezing levels will settle in the 3000-4500' range today with the coolest temperatures over the Olympic peninsula. There should be a mix of sun and low clouds along the west slopes of the Cascades today, with a fair bit of mid and high cloud along the stalled frontal boundary along the east slopes of the Cascades and Mt Hood. 

The upper low associated with our frontal system will stay offshore and drop south overnight. We should see fair weather overnight with the chance of a stray shower. A shortwave trough will rotate northward from the low on Thursday, bringing widespread showers first to the Mt Hood area, and spreading northward along east slope of the Cascades during the day.  The eastern slopes of the Cascades should see a few inches of snow above 3500' with less precipitation west of the Cascade crest.