Northwest facing several rounds of rain, mountain snow

The West Coast is experiencing an active end to the week in terms of weather, and AccuWeather forecasters say that the ongoing rounds of rain and mountain snow are following a more "traditional" storm track compared to what the precedent has been in recent months.

Parades of storms have frequently tracked into Central and Southern California this past winter, bringing record-breaking snowfall to the Sierra Nevada and neighboring ranges across the state. Even cities across the southern tier of the Golden State, such as Los Angeles, recorded rainfall amounts in March that totaled approximately 430% of the monthly historical average.

The pattern of storms pushing into California has played an imperative role in improving the current drought situation. Roughly 55% of California is no longer facing any level of drought, while three months ago, every county in the state was facing at least some degree of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

"Coming out of a historical winter season across much of California, drought conditions, both in coverage and severity, have decreased significantly," explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.

Through the weekend, rounds of storms advancing into the West Coast will focus across the Northwest states, where pockets of exceptional drought remain, rather than moving inland over California.

AccuWeather radar captured some pockets of heavy rain and mountain snow in portions northern California and western Washington State Friday morning (AccuWeather).

Dry conditions have gripped areas along the eastern slopes of the Cascade range, with the worst of the dryness concerns focusing on central Oregon. Forecasters say that any storms that sweep through Washington and Oregon in the coming days may bring beneficial moisture to the region and help to mitigate levels of drought.

A broad dip in the jet stream currently in place across the western U.S. will help usher in storms to the Northwest coast. An initial push of moisture arrived late Wednesday across Washington, Oregon and Northern California as a warm front slowly made its way to the coast.

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In major Northwest cities such as Portland and Seattle, the wet pattern will continue for much of the holiday once the rain arrives.

According to observations from the last 10 years, Seattle has recorded at least a trace of precipitation on the Easter holiday around 30% of the time. This Sunday is likely to prove to be a damp day for Easter egg hunts, with periods of rain in the forecast.

Many locations spanning from northwestern California to western Washington will face a similar outcome at the end of the weekend, including Portland and Salem, Oregon. However, some spots across southern Oregon and Northwest California may see a momentary break in the rain Saturday into early Sunday before another frontal boundary pushes onshore.

Early next week, cooler conditions can begin to filter across the Northwest, and daytime temperatures may drop between 5-15 degrees Fahrenheit lower than late this week. Cities like Portland and Medford, Oregon, may fall into the low 50s by the middle of next week, roughly 8-12 degrees below the historical average for this time in April.

In the higher elevations, falling temperatures early next week will allow for additional snow potential across portions of the Cascades and northern Rockies.

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