Lawinenlagebericht

West Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Wed
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
2 · Mässig
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Kernpunkte

Tuesday will be a transition day as the rain lets up and the sun comes out. Regardless of how the weather plays out, the snow surface should be warm and weak at all elevations. Wet avalanches will be larger and easier to trigger as you ascend up the hillsides.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Loose Wet

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1–2

    Uncertainty in the weather forecast makes the nitty-gritty specifics of this problem tricky to pin down. Luckily, you can simplify your life by looking to the snow surface. If you find yourself sinking into moist snow deeper than your ankle, you should be concerned about wet avalanches.

    While lower elevations may only produce a few rollerballs, it will likely be a different story as you ascend. Up higher, the size and reactivity of these avalanches should increase. Largely in part due to deeper recent storm snow sitting over a great sliding surface in the January Drought Interface.

    Some avalanches may fail naturally in the heat of the day. You may see blocks of snow shedding from cliffs or rocky ledges, creating slides on the slopes below. Furthermore, anywhere the snow is moist, it could be primed for you to easily trigger a wet slide on steep slopes. Once initiated, any wet avalanche could grow large as it descends. Don't get caught in one of these slow-moving slides, especially near terrain traps. 

    Your approach to managing this problem is to head for lower-angle terrain, keeping an eye on slopes above you that could shed the recent storm snow.

    (1/31/2026)

    Recent wet avalanches in the Nisqually drainage of Mt Rainier. Two of these slides ran a long way. Expect similar slides to occur over the next few days.

    Photo: Mount Rainier NP Rangers

Avalanche Discussion

Back and forth we go... After a week that delivered (mostly) snow to the mountains for the first time in roughly a month, we cycled back toward rain on Monday. Unfortunately, freezing levels soared, and as of Monday evening, it's raining close to ridgecrest throughout much of the zone. As we look forward to Tuesday and the rest of the week, the rain should subside, and we'll be onto warm and increasingly sunny weather. 

Rain, high freezing levels, and sunshine. They're all inputs for producing wet slides, and that's what you should focus on this week. On the volcanoes and at upper elevations, well over a foot of snow has fallen, which could become warm and weak. In many areas, it sits over a stout crust- the January Drought Interface (JDI). This is the snow we are worried about creating avalanches this week, particularly on Tuesday.

Although weak snow above the JDI has been identified, reports indicate it has already been wetted in most locations. This will help limit the potential for widely breaking or surprising avalanches. But keep an eye out for slab avalanches of any kind. If you see one, dial your terrain selection way back. 

This upcoming week will not help alleviate the travel hazards and "early-season" conditions that have plagued us most of the winter. Holes, creeks, bushes, rocks, ice, and bare ground are commonplace throughout the mountains.

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