Stevens Pass

The new snow has been a welcome refresh, but has not significantly increased avalanche concerns. There is a chance you could find isolated pockets of wind-drifted snow in steep alpine terrain where you might trigger a small avalanche. Make frequent observations before entering this type of high-consequence terrain. 

A storm aimed mostly at the Olympics, southern, and eastern Cascades won't bring much precipitation to Stevens Pass. We might get a dusting or so during the day, but expect mostly cloudy skies. There is limited information from upper elevations, but there could be isolated pockets of wind drifted snow where you could trigger a small avalanche. We expect any of these wind slabs to be isolated to very steep, rocky, or confined features at upper elevations. Whenever you're entering terrain with significant fall risk, small avalanches can carry disproportionately high consequences. Use many smaller features to look for signs of cracking in wind-stiffened snow before committing to extreme terrain. 

On Sunday, NWAC forecasters at Stevens Pass found minimal avalanche concerns. Sunny slopes have a breakable, melt-freeze crust on the surface, and shady slopes hold cold, dry snow. There is 4-5" of recent storm snow over the 2/13 interface, which consists of weak faceted snow and surface hoar on shady slopes. While it showed reactivity in stability tests, there isn't enough new snow over it yet to warrant widespread avalanche concerns.  But we'll monitor this layer going forward, as it could become problematic with future storms. The 2/7 crust is just above the January Drought Interface, buried 6-8" deep. Weak faceted snow exists between these two crusts.

At low elevations and in forested areas, you may find thick crusts on or just under the surface. There are also still significant travel hazards. Open creeks, bare ground, and exposed rocks are all things you might have to contend with to get into the more pleasant conditions above about 5500ft.