Stevens Pass

Avalanche danger is generally low. Still, carry avalanche rescue gear when traveling in snow-covered avalanche terrain, follow safe travel practices, and move quickly beneath steep, rocky slopes where snow blocks or glide cracks exist above you. Expect challenging and slippery travel on variable, hard surfaces, though steep south-facing slopes will likely soften midday.

We're in for yet another day of inversion temperatures and a strong diurnal freeze–thaw cycle, with light easterly breezes. There could be a few wisps of clouds in the sky. It has been almost a week since notable wet avalanches or other forms of shedding have occurred, but it’s still prudent to avoid lingering beneath sun-warmed rock faces that retain patches of snow, as well as below glide cracks.

Clear nights and cold easterly flow have limited daytime warming and built strong surface crusts. South-facing aspects are softening by midday, however, and snow is rapidly melting on these slopes—especially where coverage was already thin. There's a small chance that stronger wind on Wednesday will result in less softening on southerlies than previous days. Expect icy travel conditions, particularly in the morning and on shaded aspects; bring fall-arrest equipment and be prepared to prevent long, sliding falls.

Monday night, a brief shift to westerly winds resulted in soft surfaces early Tuesday morning, with 5-10cm of foot penetration into soft, moist snow in the pre-dawn hours at 5000ft. A shift back to easterly in the morning subsequently froze all surfaces- it's amazing how much these subtle changes affect the snow!  A widespread wet avalanche cycle occurred January 12–13 during a major rain event. Most avalanches were large and ran long distances, scouring even below recent storm snow. Many releases originated from rock features and glide cracks. No slab avalanches were reported.