Avalanche forecast

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 months ago.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

Highlights

Avalanches are most likely on steep slopes where more than 6 inches of new snow has accumulated or where wind has drifted snow into slabs. The greatest hazard will be in upper-elevation, wind-exposed terrain. Small loose avalanches can be found on steep slopes holding soft, unconsolidated new snow.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Dry

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of low-density new snow will likely lack cohesion and should have a poor bond with crusts or dense wind slab surfaces below. Expect to push some snow downhill with you as you descend or traverse steep slopes. Natural loose dry avalanches are also possible below cliffs and other very steep features. These sluffs are unlikely to bury you, but could push you around or carry you somewhere you don’t want to go.

    (4/2/2023)

    Loose dry avalanches can pack quite a punch in big, fall-line terrain. 

    Photo: Jason Speer

  • Storm Slabs

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

    Slab avalanche danger will primarily be found on wind-loaded slopes, but look for instability anywhere 6  or more inches of new snow has accumulated. Watch for denser snow over softer snow below, especially as the day warms and the surface begins to slab up over colder snow beneath. Moderate winds in alpine terrain may also drift soft new snow into shallow slabs. Older, thicker wind slabs from the last storm are still out there but are likely very stubborn to trigger.

    Simple tests can help identify the strength of new snow and wind slab layers. Older wind slabs may be too thick and dense to learn much by digging around with your hand or stomping on small slopes. Use the usual visual clues—such as cornices and wind-drifted features—to identify potentially wind-loaded slopes. Light-density new snow could hide signs of the denser, slabbier snow below.

    (3/11/2026)

    Crown of a large slab triggered from the ridge just above. Slope was actively getting loaded with wind-drifted snow.

    (SS-D2-ASr-I)

    Photo: Lee Lazzara

Avalanche Discussion

Initial post-storm observations have been underwhelming—but don’t take that as the final word for the entire forecast zone. Partially filled-in crowns from natural slab avalanches were spotted in wind-exposed terrain on Shuksan Arm and nearby areas of the Baker Backcountry. They likely released during the peak of wind and snowfall on Wednesday evening. They were many in number but, for the most part, small. Aside from those, avalanche activity was lower than expected, and control work produced no significant results.

A brief warm-up and short period of rain late Wednesday didn’t cause the upper snowpack to fall apart. Instead, warmer temperatures helped the new snow settle and bond quickly. Rain and wet new snow, followed by falling temperatures, also left behind a firm surface crust. It didn’t earn many positive reviews.

Conditions may vary widely across the zone. Strong winds likely affected some weather station readings, making it hard to know exactly what happened everywhere. One takeaway is that the farther south you travel, the more intense the wind and the heavier the snowfall. Elsewhere in the Cascades, winds were extreme, including a 134 mph gust recorded at Alpental.

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