Photo Credit: NWS Spokane
Wednesday should look like this in the PNW | Photo Credit: NWS Spokane

A winter storm is impacting the PNW and by Tuesday night, some of the higher elevations @StevensPass could see upwards of 26″ reports NOAA.

Related: Score Christmas Day Powder At These 5 Ski Resorts

That forecast is great news for those travelling to the mountains for ski trips this holiday season and even better news for the ski areas themselves. However, all is not peaches and cream. There is currently and avalanche warning in effect for much of the Cascades (*all the way from Mt Hood to Mt Baker).

With that in mind, make conservative terrain choices, properly assess the snowpack, and find some low-angle butter in which to get pitted this week leading up to Xmas!

LET IT SNOW!

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Winter Weather Advisory (Central Washington) 

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PST TUESDAY…

* TIMING…TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY.

* SNOW LEVEL…STEVENS AND SNOQUALMIE PASS…NEAR 3500 FEET TONIGHT…RISING TO 4000 FEET TUESDAY MORNING… FALLING TO AROUND 2500 FEET TUESDAY AFTERNOON. PARADISE AND WHITE PASS… NEAR 5000 FEET TONIGHT… NEAR 5500 FEET TUESDAY MORNING… FALLING TO NEAR 2500 FEET TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

* MAIN IMPACT…SNOQUALMIE PASS…UP TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW
TONIGHT…CHANGING TO RAIN TUESDAY MORNING WITH ANOTHER 2 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THERE COULD ALSO BE SOME BRIEF FREEZING RAIN.

STEVENS PASS…UP TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW TONIGHT…UP TO 3 INCHES TUESDAY MORNING WITH A RAIN SNOW MIX POSSIBLE…UP TO 6 INCHES POSSIBLE TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

PARADISE…5 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW TONIGHT AND 2 TO 7 INCHES ON TUESDAY.

WHITE PASS…UP TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW TONIGHT…CHANGING TO RAIN TUESDAY MORNING…AND 2 TO 4 INCHES TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

Winter Weather Advisory (Mt Baker)

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PST TUESDAY…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PST TUESDAY.

* TIMING…TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY.

* SNOW LEVEL…NEAR 2000 FEET TONIGHT RISING TO NEAR 4000 FEET TUESDAY MORNING…THEN FALLING TO NEAR 2000 FEET TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

* MAIN IMPACT…2 TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW TONIGHT AND 4 TO 7 INCHES ON TUESDAY FOR A TOTAL OF 6 TO 14 INCHES OF SNOW.

* OTHER IMPACTS…SLIPPERY ROADS AND POTENTIALLY DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS PARTICULARLY ON THE ROAD TO MOUNT BAKER.

Avalanche Warning

THE NORTHWEST AVALANCHE CENTER HAS ISSUED AN AVALANCHE WARNING…

TIMING… DAYLIGHT HOURS MONDAY DECEMBER 19 2016.

LOCATION… THE WEST SLOPES OF THE WASHINGTON CASCADES AND MT HOOD.

AVALANCHE DANGER… THE AVALANCHE DANGER IS EXPECTED TO BECOME HIGH IN THESE AREAS MONDAY.

REASON… INCREASING HEAVY SNOW WILL LOAD POTENTIAL WEAK LAYERS FORMED DURING THE RECENT COLD WEATHER AND BUILD NEW POTENTIAL UNSTABLE LAYERS ON MONDAY.

Find up-to-date avalanche reports here: Northwest Avalanche Center

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