Snoqualmie Pass

Though we expect generally safe avalanche conditions, increasing wind speeds could drift a bit of soft surface snow into a small and isolated wind slab at the middle and upper elevations. If you see blowing snow, give a wide berth to steep lee slopes with fresh drifts deeper than a few inches, and be mindful of the consequences being knocked off your feet by a small slide above cliffs, rocks, or trees. Firm surfaces exist on slopes that face the sun, so consider carrying crampons to minimize the risk of a sliding fall.

Saturday brings increasing wind speeds and cloudy skies. So long as skies stay clear for a bit on Friday night, the snow surface should re-freeze and put to bed any wet loose potential. This should shut down the corn harvest for the day, so expect firm surfaces in the morning to stay firm. If you find wet snow on the surface, keep a stray wet loose on your radar. It would be small and rare, but don't let it knock you off your feet in hazardous terrain. 

Slopes receiving the brunt of the wind are likely either crusted and/or scoured, limiting the ability to form significant slabs. Still, winds do funny things in the mountains and an isolated slab could form where local winds erode soft snow and create fresh drifts. Any slab that does form should be small, but there is a chance it could form on a weak surface, increasing propagation potential and width. If you see blowing snow, avoid steep wind-loaded slopes in consequential terrain where even a 1" wind slab could prove problematic if it knocked you off your feet, and avoid any steep wind-loaded slope in the unlikely event that you find more than 6" of drifted snow. Older wind slabs formed on Tuesday have had three days to heal under warming temperatures, rendering triggering unlikely. Perhaps you could find one in a shaded gully entrance or below a steep rocky ridge line above 5000', but it would be an outlier. 

Though multiple nights of cold temperatures should help ease the threat of glide avalanches, there are still plenty of glide cracks to be found. If you must cross below a crack, do it quickly, one at a time, and don't linger.  

Friday's Conditions and the Current Snowpack:

NWAC forecasters at the Pass on Friday took advantage of good stability and clear skies to push into the higher terrain. Another solid overnight re-freeze made for firm surfaces in the morning at all elevations on slopes that receive direct sunlight (E-S-W). Multiple days of freeze-thaw conditions have made for stout surface crusts that are softening in the daytime sun and offering a harvest of what we might even call corn.  Other than a stray roller ball, no wet loose activity was observed. We found little signs of wind-affected snow and no obvious signs of instability, similar to the conditions observed by other snow professionals in the zone. Ski crampons were helpful navigating the frozen surfaces, and likely will be again on Saturday. On steep and shaded slopes above 4500', 3-6" of dry and generally unconsolidated snow caps a stout frozen crust. Isolated wind-loaded pockets could be deeper. Warming air temperatures may have affected the snow surface on all aspects below that elevation.