The fall weather which produces the best displays are sunny days followed by clear cold nights. With night time temperatures chilly but above the freezing mark. The next time you're sitting in traffic, the rain pouring down, dreaming about the new snow in the mountains - pay attention. Yes, listen for the Seattle temperature on the radio. It is your key to great powder skiing.
Air is a funny thing.
Yes indeed, warm air does rise , but as it rises it expands and cools by about 3-5 degrees per thousand feet. When air is forced to rise as moves over the Cascades it cools as well, again because of expansion of air causing cooling. Snoqualamie Pass may be 10 - 15 degrees cooler than Seattle. There are several factors affecting the snow level, but the 3-5 degrees cooling per thousand feet seems to work most of the time. Stevens is about 3 degrees even cooler, because it's higher than Snoqualimie.