Avalanche forecast

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
No rating
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 9 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The rain may have stopped, and temperatures cooled, but that won’t entirely eliminate the avalanche issues. As water moves through the snowpack, blocks of snow could shed off craggy slopes without warning. Don’t linger underneath rocks and cliffs holding patches of snow.

Avalanche problems

  • Glide Cracks

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

    Tuesday’s avalanche concerns should focus more on snow falling on you rather than on you triggering a slide yourself. Consequently, the best thing you can do is pay attention to what’s above. These shed-style avalanches will be nearly impossible to predict. Instead, look for routes that limit the time you spend under this terrain. 

    The more snow hanging in the rocks, the bigger and nastier these slides could be. As a result, there won’t be any hazard down low, but as you ascend, the chance for larger avalanches will grow. Fortunately, even up high, there’s not that much snow. This will limit the size of any avalanche. 

    The snowpack just saw a lot of rain! Inches and inches of rain. Cooling temperatures will help the surface snow gain strength (freeze). However, water will still be moving through the snowpack and flowing along the ground. All this running water takes longer to heal. 

    If the snow surface doesn’t freeze, you’ll find a very wet, heavy snowpack. In these spots, you might trigger a wet loose slide. Even if it's small, these avalanches could carry you into rock or trees.

    (3/2/2025)

    Example: Snow precariously hanging to a rocky ledge with a waterfall running down the middle. These blocks could fall with little warning. 

    Photo: Andy Harrington

Avalanche Discussion

The Pass has already received 2.3 inches of water and counting since this atmospheric river started Monday morning. That number could easily double by first thing Tuesday. Numerous hours of very heavy precipitation rates (¼ to ⅓ inch per hour) have hammered the snowpack. Rain reached well above the highest peaks surrounding the Pass. By the time this event is done, there may not be any dry snow left to mention. Sorry! 

As the precipitation winds down Tuesday morning, snow levels will finally drop. A few inches of snow may accumulate at middle and upper elevations, but it probably won’t be enough to pose any real hazard. If you make it high enough and find greater than 4 inches of fresh snow, be leery of potentially wind loaded slopes nearby. 

It’s been a warm start to the winter, and the snowpack shows it. There isn’t any snow in the lower elevations to create an avalanche hazard. Even in the middle elevations, the snowpack is often thin and sometimes discontinuous. Accessing the snow remains one of the greatest challenges. Even once you find it, plenty of rocks, trees, bushes, gullies, and other early season challenges make travel difficult. 

With the warm start to the 25-26 winter season, we have less snowpack information than usual to start daily forecast operations. For zones and elevation bands with less snow than needed for avalanche hazard, we will issue a forecast with No Rating. Anticipated avalanche and weather conditions will still be updated daily. NWAC will issue an avalanche danger rating for a zone when enough snow to produce avalanches has accumulated at middle and upper elevations.

Regions covered