Rain, followed by rain, and some deep mountain snow

At least three or four more days of rainstorms are headed to the northwest. They'll cycle through approximately every 18 hours, says KPLU weather expert Cliff Mass, a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington.

In practical terms, that means showers should taper off around noon today, and then resume this evening, and there will be breaks again throughout the weekend. The rains are particularly heavy along the coast and as you head into southern Oregon, as Mass describes in his weather blog.

The storms will be dumping snow at higher elevations, he says, but not much at Snoqualmie Pass -- which is too low, at just over 3,000 feet.

If you head to places like Mt. Baker or Crystal Mountain, there could be several feet of new snow by Monday, he says.

The podcast (click "listen" above or "subscribe" below) explains why Snoqualmie Pass even gets any snow, at such a low elevation, and what's likely to happen as global warming proceeds.

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The weekly KPLU feature "Weather with Cliff Mass" airs every Friday at 9 a.m. immediately following BirdNote, and repeats twice on Friday afternoons during All Things Considered. The feature is hosted by KPLU’s Science and Health reporter Keith Seinfeld. Cliff Mass is a University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, a renowned Seattle weather prognosticator, and a popular weather blogger. You can also subscribe to a podcast of “Weather with Cliff Mass” shows.