Stevens Pass

Expect mild and cloudy conditions for Sunday. You may be able to trigger small wet avalanches if the snow surface doesn't freeze well overnight. Continue to keep your distance from cornices.

Solar aspects have well-developed crusts. After a prolonged warm period, wet avalanches may still be possible with a poor freeze overnight. Check snow surfaces to see how well they've frozen. Be aware of overhead or nearby cornices, as they could fall. Don't linger on or under them. If you're traveling on a ridge, give them a wide margin. Observers reported cornice fall last week, and more recently in other zones. Observers have also reported glide cracks opening and ongoing loose wet avalanches on sun-exposed slopes. A notable wet avalanche gouged below surface layers to size D1.5 on a SE aspect of Lichtenberg Mountain on the 12th. See the photo below.

While deep persistent slab avalanches are dormant and unlikely, the snowpack structure can still be found. The mid-January crust-facet layer is now 8-9 feet below the surface and showing signs of strengthening. Drainages far east of the pass and into the East Central zone are more prone to these avalanches. The last known deep slab avalanche in this zone was on March 1 with another suspected in the West South zone on March 3. Major warming events later in spring and summer could trigger further rounds of avalanches on this layer. Keep in mind the consequences of these massive avalanches and give yourself an extra margin of terrain in and around large avalanche paths.

On March 1st, WSDOT avalanche teams triggered an 8ft deep D3 avalanche on the southeast face of Rock Mountain east of Stevens Pass. In the Chiwaukum Mountains, a natural D3.5 avalanche in upper-elevation north-facing terrain is suspected to have run on the 28th. A massive avalanche (D4) ran naturally in the West Camp path on Rock Mountain less than 2 weeks ago. These are just a few of the very large and historic avalanches that occurred in the second half of February.

During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, continue to follow the latest guidance from local, state, and federal health officials. Avoid unnecessary risks that could impact first responders and stress medical resources.  Wear a mask when appropriate, practice social distancing, and consider recreating closer to home.