Boletín de aludes

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Peligro de aludes

Sun
Alta montaña
2 · Moderado
Límite del bosque
2 · Moderado
Bajo el límite
2 · Moderado
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Desactualizado: este boletín caducó 5 months ago. Estás viendo condiciones pasadas, no el boletín vigente.

Lo esencial

Wet, unstable snow will stick around through the weekend. Identify overhead hazards—cornices, glide cracks, cliffs, and large unsupported slopes—and avoid traveling beneath them. Expect a mountain environment that’s changed drastically, with open water, exposed hazards, and saturated or crusty snow affecting travel.

Problemas de aludes

  • Glide Cracks

    • Alta montaña
    • Límite del bosque
    • Bajo el límite del bosque
    Probabilidad
    Possible
    Tamaño
    1.5–2.5

    The wet, sloppy upper snowpack will start to firm up with colder temperatures overnight, but it’s a bit of a stretch to say it will be “locked up” by Saturday. Danger from glide avalanches, cornice fall, and other wet avalanche problems will keep the danger from dropping to Low. 

    While you might be able to push some wet snow around on steep slopes, the real danger comes from large, very unpredictable, but low-likelihood events where a large chunk of snow comes unglued from the mountain.

    These aren’t the kind of problems for which you can evaluate stability. It’s also unlikely that you would trigger one. The only real risk mitigation strategy is to limit exposure to terrain below cornices, snowy cliffs, glide cracks, wrinkled-looking snow, and anything else that looks sketchy and poorly attached to the mountain.

    (3/18/2026)

    A before and after photo of a chunk of snow breaking off a rocky perch during soggy weather. West North.

    Photo: Zack McGill - Cascade Mtn Ascents

Avalanche Discussion

If you get into alpine terrain, you might find dry snow and storm or wind slab avalanche problems. Evaluate stability before heading into steep terrain. Strong sun could help initiate wet avalanches in the uppermost layer of new snow.

It’s worth totaling precipitation amounts and other stats now that the rainfall is more or less over. The numbers in some locations are eye-popping. The Skookum Ridge SNOTEL picked up over 13” of precipitation since Monday, with most other stations showing between 5 and 8 inches over the same period.

As usual, these totals drop as you head east, with only 4.1” at Lyman Lake (which sits near the spine of the Cascade Range). Snowpack depths lost significant ground, with nearly all stations showing a 20–25% reduction in total snow depth since seasonal highs last weekend. Temperatures hovered in the upper 30s and low 40s throughout the week, even at upper-elevation stations like Lyman (5,990 feet).

Numerous wet avalanches were reported in lower-elevation terrain at Snoqualmie Pass, and an NWAC forecaster in Stevens Pass observed a handful of large avalanches despite poor visibility. No observations were submitted from West Central, but it’s reasonable to assume there has been similar activity given the size of the zone, the steepness of the terrain, and the amount of rain that fell on a dry upper snowpack.

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