Boletín de aludes

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
Ver en el mapa

Peligro de aludes

Sun
Alta montaña
2 · Moderado
Límite del bosque
2 · Moderado
Bajo el límite
1 · Débil
Open full map
Desactualizado: este boletín caducó 7 months ago. Estás viendo condiciones pasadas, no el boletín vigente.

Lo esencial

You may be able to push an avalanche of wet, mushy snow in steeper terrain. Even though these slides should stay small, they could easily carry you into trees or over a cliff.

Problemas de aludes

  • Loose Wet

    • Alta montaña
    • Límite del bosque
    • Bajo el límite del bosque
    Probabilidad
    Possible
    Tamaño
    1–1.5

    Warm, wet weather the past few days resulted in rain reaching all the way to the tops of the highest peaks around the Pass. Even though precipitation should taper off Saturday morning, at this point, the damage is done. Now, several inches of wet rained on snow sits over a burly crust. 

    What’s different this time is that you may not see new rollerballs or any fresh avalanches. The wet, mushy snow might even be hard to get moving, but if you push on a very steep slope, it could start rolling downhill. Once they get going, these avalanches could entrain snow down to the last crust and might run far down slope. Take a look at the consequences of being caught by one of these wet loose slides. Steer clear of steeper terrain above cliffs, creeks, rocks, and other terrain traps. 

    In general, this avalanche problem is a result of the wet snow already present. However, the sun could make an appearance in the afternoon. Combined with the warm temperatures, this might cause blobs of snow to shed off rocks and trigger wet avalanches on the slopes below.

    (1/12/2026)

    Example: A long-running wet loose avalanche, triggered by snow shedding off the rocks.

    Photo: Trevor Kostanich

Avalanche Discussion

Well, the dry spell finally broke, but not in the way we would have liked. Initially, 4 inches of snow fell at Pass level, with closer to a foot of heavy snow accumulating at 5500ft. Then, the rain line started a steady march up the hillsides. Eventually, rain reached above the top of Alpental on Friday. So much for the fresh snow. Sadly,  on Saturday, it looks like conditions stay warm and damp.

The amount of new snow that fell before it turned to rain will impact the size of any avalanches. Down low, there’s just not enough new snow to create much of a hazard. Above about 4500ft, storm totals increase, and so does the potential size of any slide. You can easily measure how much new snow sits over the very prominent asphault-like crust (January Drought Interface). At the moment, we’re only worried about what's above this layer.

With the continued warm weather, we could see glide or shed style avalanches return to the Pass. These are hard to predict, and the prolonged warm weather in January likely caused most slopes to already shed. However, pay attention to the terrain above you and don’t linger under snow-covered rocky slopes. 

It’s been a rough month for the snowpack. Between the rain and warm temperatures, it’s taken quite a hit. Icy crusts below the new snow, open creeks, random holes, exposed rocks, grabby bushes, and countless trees can make even common, simple routes trickier than normal. Give yourself extra time to manage the laundry list of travel hazards. 

Regiones cubiertas