Avalanche forecast

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

New snow may have drifted into unstable piles on specific terrain features at upper elevations. Elsewhere, new and old wet avalanche problems should shape your travel plans. Limit the amount of time you spend traveling under sagging cornices or blocks of snow clinging to rocks.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    At upper elevations, there may be just enough recent snow and wind that you'll need to put dry snow problems back on your radar. Look for potential slabs in wind-loaded areas, such as leeward ridgelines, the sides of gullies/chutes, or the base of cliffs. You can look for texturing of the surface, fresh cornices, or new pillow-like drifts to help identify wind-loaded features that you should avoid. Using uptrack tests, quick hand pits, or small test slopes can help determine how the new snow is bonding to the old surface or if midstorm instabilities are present. The new snow should be resting on a newly forming crust, which could act as a good bed surface.

    (12/16/2024)

    A shallow wind slab from earlier this season in a confined chute.

    A textured surface and stiffer feel to the snow can help you identify wind-loaded features to avoid.

  • Glide Cracks

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3

    This is the problem that should shape your travel plans on Saturday. Our snowpack is saturated from this week's atmospheric river and unseasonably warm temperatures. We haven't had a good overnight freeze in almost a week. Wet avalanches are impossible to predict and can often occur long after the rain has stopped. Although cooling generally helps resolve these issues, the initial cool-down can sometimes trigger a final round of slab or glide activity. Are you likely to see one of these slides while you're out and about? No. However, if one occurs, it will be without warning and likely be fatal. So limit the amount of time you spend below large avalanche slopes, hanging blocks of snow, or sagging cornices where one of these low-likelihood, high-consequence slides could occur. 

    (3/27/2025)

    A glide slope that released down to the rocks. Next to it, you see a glide crack where the slope has not yet released but could with additional influence. 

    Photo: Andy Harrington

Avalanche Discussion

The Pass received a few inches of snow, accompanied by wind, on Friday at upper elevations. Observations indicate that a breakable crust formed at the base of the new snow at upper elevations as our warm and wet surface attempted to firm itself up. Wet loose avalanches in the new snow later ran on this crust once temperatures increased in the afternoon. Lower elevations received more rain, so the snowpack remains soggy and weak. Expect a similar day on Saturday but with less precipitation and wind and a potentially warmer and sunnier afternoon. 

This week's atmospheric river and unseasonably warm temperatures did a number on our snowpack and the mountains. Apart from the widespread natural avalanche cycle leaving debris piles everywhere, we now have to contend with open creeks, holes, and patches of bare ground or rock. Allow yourself extra time to navigate these hazards. We also are left with the uncertainty that naturally surrounds wet avalanches. Although the snowpack is relatively well saturated and suited to handle additional water and warmth, it's not particularly safe out there. We're caught in this middle ground, living with low likelihood, high consequence slides.

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