Avalanche forecast

West Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
3 · Considerable
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

There is a lot of new snow out there, I mean a LOT! Natural avalanches could continue at higher elevations and in wind prone terrain. Keep it dialed back. Stick to treed and smaller slopes, and away from large open areas.

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    2–3

    The West South has been at the bullseye of a major winter storm all week. Even as it comes to an end, this isn’t the time to get after it. Strong winds will continue to transport snow and load leeward slopes. Large natural avalanches won’t be a surprise at higher elevations, along exposed ridges, and near the base of cliffs. Stay away from and out from under these features. 

    Even in more sheltered terrain, heavy precipitation rates, strong winds, and yo-yoing snow levels have left several interstorm layers. It's always tough to say how long these layers will continue to produce avalanches. However, with all the new snow any slide could easily be big enough to bury or kill you. Hand pits, up track tests, and small slopes probably won’t give you the information you need with so much new snow. So, we’re left with being patient and giving these layers time to heal. Keep it simple on Saturday. Avoid steep open slopes.

  • Loose Wet

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

    This is an “if” “then” avalanche problem. If the sun comes out, then you could see natural loose avalanches running on very steep and rocky southerly slopes. This problem isn’t a slam dunk, but if it happens, it could be quite impactful. First, the sun needs to make a meaningful appearance. Cold temperatures and stronger winds will try to keep this issue at bay. But if snow starts to shed from rocks and trees, the scales are tipping. 

    If you begin to see loose avalanches, steer clear of steep, rocky, sunny slopes and the terrain below them. Some of these slides could become large and dangerous, or they may trigger a bigger slab as they descend.

    (2/27/2026)

    Example: Loose avalanches that failed due to sunshine and rising temperatures in the White Pass backcountry. Many of these originated as snow shed from trees or rocks.

    Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

This has been one heck of a storm. Especially for this year. Since March 8th, many weather stations have recorded around 8 inches of water, 50-80 inches of snow (and counting), and a 40-60-inch increase in snow depth! Ya, it’s been a good week.  We're not done yet! The storm will continue Friday night with cooling temperatures and another foot or so of snow before finally wrapping up early Saturday morning. 

With all this fresh powder, two other hazards should be on your mind: deep snow immersion and tree bombs. You can learn more about deep snow safety here. Expect tree bombs to become more common during periods of stronger wind and sunshine. 

What to think of all this new snow? There are certainly plenty of interstorm layers, but they are hard to describe and delineate. Two prominent ones are worth noting. The 3/8 crust is where this all began. You’ll need your probe to find it, about 4-6 feet (120-180cm) below the surface. A mid storm warm up left a crust to about 5500-6000ft. Above that, it’s just an interface of dense snow. This 3/12 interface is likely 3-4 feet (90-120cm) below the surface. 

Remember, this isn’t a typical post storm powder day. This was one of the biggest storms of the year. We’re still digging out. Observations have been limited. There’s plenty of uncertainty that should encourage us to be a bit more conservative with our terrain than normal. 

Regions covered