Snoqualmie Pass

New snow shouldn't be enough to drive much avalanche potential on Monday. But low hazard doesn't mean there's no hazard at all. You may want to consider limiting the amount of time you spend traveling under sagging cornices, slopes with glide cracks, or blocks of snow clinging to rocks. 

Sunday was a relative break in our stormy March weather in terms of precipitation. However, moderate to strong easterly winds made their presence felt in the zone as clouds increased ahead of our next weather system on Sunday evening. While blowing snow was observed by several parties, no wind slab formation was noted. This next storm won't be a big snow producer at The Pass, but expect to find a few inches of new snow by Monday morning. Although the wind may create some unstable drifts, most shouldn't be large enough to call consequential avalanches. Nevertheless, be cautious if you plan to visit high-elevation slopes or extreme terrain. Even a small slide can be consequential when terrain traps are involved. Look for unstable wind pockets in confined gullies/chutes, on convex features, or leeward ridgelines. 

Last week's atmospheric river (AR) event was followed by unseasonably warm temperatures, resulting in a widespread wet avalanche cycle throughout the zone. On Sunday, avalanches as big as D3 were observed in the Alpental Valley. Most of these slides happened either during or shortly after last week's AR. Since then, we have not had a confirmed very large slide in our zone, but one occurred in the nearby Stevens Pass zone on Friday night during a period of rain. 

As we begin to distance ourselves from this cycle and enter a cooler period, a new surface crust is slowly forming. Reports have wavered on its thickness to date, but another night of relatively cool temperatures with partially clear skies on Sunday should help it gain strength. Once this crust becomes boot-supportable, thick, and strong, we should be able to put the threat of these very large and destructive wet avalanches to bed for a while. That's what we're banking on with our forecast, which allows us to drop the Glide avalanche problem. Does that mean that they're impossible? Definitely not. We wouldn't be surprised to hear of one occurring. However, we don't think it's very likely at this point; otherwise, we'd still have it on the official problem list.

But take a look for yourself if you're out in the mountains. Take a moment to step out of your mode of transportation and see how deeply your foot sinks into the snow. If you're plunging through a weak surface crust into old, moist snow, put those very large and destructive slides back on your radar. Whether you think they're a concern or not, you should consider limiting the time you spend traveling below precariously hanging blocks of snow or sagging cornices. They're the most common, albeit unlikely, culprits to fail and create a very large avalanche.

Debris piles from this week's avalanche cycle are widespread. As are open creeks, holes, and patches of bare ground or rock. Once the surface stiffens up, slick and difficult travel may develop. Allow yourself extra time to navigate these hazards.