Avalanche forecast

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

You can trigger small avalanches at upper elevations where the wind has drifted recent snow.  Snow cover is still shallow; watch for hitting shallowly buried rocks and logs. For Sunday, expect cloudy skies, cool temperatures, and a chance for light snow. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    If you find signs of instability, like cracks shooting through the snow or wind drifts that break easily with a person's weight, stay off of leeward slopes over 35 degrees. Look for visual clues like sharp wind drifts and stiffer snow surfaces. Steer around fresh drifts and stick to lower-angle or wind-sheltered slopes. 

    Keep an eye out for wind transport as southeast winds will increase on Sunday. This shouldn't be a significant wind event, but the shift in wind direction could form shallow, new slabs on slopes that didn't build them during the initial storm. Strong westerly winds formed the bulk of the existing wind slabs on Friday during a warm and windy storm. These slabs could be up to 1 foot deep. Aside from due south aspects, you may find reactive conditions, as new snow may be resting on a layer of surface hoar or weak snow surrounding thin crusts.

    (12/23/2023)

    New snow and wind on 12/22 built drifts and slabs up to 30cm deep at upper elevations on Rock Mtn.

    Photo: Matt Primomo

Avalanche Discussion

On Saturday, observers on Rock Mountain found 2" of new snow near 3,000ft. Above 6,000ft, they found 6" of new snow with fresh wind drifts up to 1 foot deep. They reported a small natural slab avalanche on a steep southerly aspect around 6,400ft, as well as a few small loose dry avalanches that occurred during the day in rocky, extreme, sun-exposed slopes. Although travel conditions have improved a bit, coverage is still thin in many places. Beware of hitting exposed rocks, stumps, and creeks.

Under the 5" of new snow that fell on Friday is a mix of crusts, weak facets, and surface hoar. The storm started off warm with some version of rain or liquid precipitation up to about 5,000ft. It's likely that whatever was on the surface at that elevation on Friday morning (surface hoar in some places) got wet and transformed into melt forms. On steeper due south slopes, the new snow fell on a stout crust that's the combination of rain and sun events from the past 1-2 weeks. Elsewhere, the 3-6 inches of snow below the 12/22 interface is a series of thin, brittle crusts and weak, faceted layers.

Stevens Pass Ski Area is open. Check uphill policies HERE. You can contribute to the forecast! Let us know what you found by submitting an observation HERE. 

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