Avalanche forecast

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Temperatures will ramp up a little more on Friday, and you can expect a mostly sunny day. Wet avalanches may run on steep, sunny terrain, particularly in the warm afternoon. Move off of steep slopes if you are sinking in deeply to wet, heavy snow, and be wary of steep, rocky terrain overhead.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    We haven't fully transitioned to a spring snowpack at many elevations, and temperatures have been chilly for mid-April. But a combination of calm winds, warmer temperatures, and sun on Friday may increase the potential for wet loose avalanches in steep, sunny terrain. The intense April sun only takes a little time to warm snow surfaces, particularly in areas with fresh snow. We expect most wet loose avalanche activity to be small. However, on Wednesday, the WSDOT highway crews in the Highway 20 corridor observed a few large avalanches on steep south aspects. These larger avalanches indicate that our snowpack hasn't adjusted to the spring weather, and wet avalanches could entrain a significant amount of snow as they travel, becoming large and dangerous. Move off steep slopes if you begin to sink into deep, wet snow or see steep rocks shedding snow in the sun. There may also be lingering glide avalanche potential on rock faces and steep, smooth slopes. So if you see a big frowning glide crack or hanging blocks of snow on rocky ledges, give yourself a wide berth around these unpredictable avalanches. 

    (3/18/2023)

    Wet loose avalanches often initiate from steep rocky terrain like in this photo. 

    Photo: Pat Riffie

Avalanche Discussion

You may still find isolated pockets with lingering wind slabs in alpine terrain. Steep ridgelines, the base of cliffs, and confined alpine features above 6500ft are the most suspect slopes to trigger one of these avalanches. If you see large pillow-like drifts, shooting cracks, or the snow feels hollow beneath you, simply travel on lower-angle slopes or steer around these wind-loaded features. Over the weekend, some wind slabs in the Mission Ridge area stepped down onto a weak layer of surface hoar formed at the end of March. While unlikely, some older wind slabs may still run on this weak snow layer. The surface hoar layer is isolated in distribution, but there is potential for a large surprising avalanche on northerly aspects. 

After last weekend's rain, cool overnight temperatures created a thick crust on most surfaces at mid and lower elevations. The recent rain and warm temperatures changed the landscape a bit, and you can expect challenging travel and lots of bare ground at lower-elevation trailheads. 

This is my last forecast for the season, so I hope you have a fun, safe spring. Thanks to the incredible backcountry community for your observations and support of the Northwest Avalanche Center. We'll see you back here in the fall.

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