Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Avalanche danger will increase as you gain elevation and find more new snow. Search out thicker, newly formed drifts and steer around them on steep slopes, especially as you work your way towards upper elevations. Stability should improve throughout the day, as the new storm snow has more time to settle out. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    It's possible that you could trigger an avalanche that could bury and kill you at mid and upper elevations. As you climb higher, expect conditions to be very different from where you started at lower elevations.  New snow amounts will increase as you make your way towards the upper elevation band, and avalanche danger will increase. 

    Track the depth of new snow and the extent of drifting above older layers. Search for wind slabs, characterized by either textured snow surfaces or smooth, pillow-like deposits. They're most likely to form beneath ridgelines, around rocky outcroppings and other features, and in gullies (see accompanying photo for textbook example). Feel for stiffer, heavier snow beneath you, and search for warning signs like long, shooting cracks. You can dig hand and pole pits to check how the new slab is bonding to the underlying layer. If it springs off easily, that's not a good sign. Steer around steep spots where you identify any of these characteristics. 

    (1/4/2026) A human-triggered avalanche in the neighboring West North zone that happened in a newly formed wind slab on Sunday. Photo: Cameron Maltman

Avalanche Discussion

We received 1.5 inches of water in the more southerly areas and closer to 2.5 inches of water in the northern half of the zone in the last 36 hours, as of Sunday night. This was almost completely rain at lower elevations, and then a mix of rain turning to snow at mid elevations, and finally all snow near the top portion of the upper elevation band. Up high there could be around two feet of snow, with plenty of accompanying wind. 

At lower elevations, a few inches of moist snow could accumulate by Monday morning. Although temperatures are cooling into Monday, you may still find a moist layer beneath the surface; however, we expect any wet avalanche activity to be minimal in the lower-elevation band.

Neighboring zones reported continued wet avalanche activity, including glide avalanches, at mid and lower elevations. In the West North zone—where snowfall totals were highest—both natural and human-triggered slab avalanches were observed. Snowfall amounts were slightly lower in the West Central zone, but we expect avalanche activity to not be too dissimilar from what was seen there. 

Regions covered