Avalanche forecast

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 months ago.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

If you're traveling around and sinking into sticky, wet snow, consider steering around very steep terrain where you could trigger a small avalanche. Be considerate of your terrain selection, as being caught and carried in even a small wet snow avalanche could carry you into hazards downslope. Definitely back off from steep terrain if you are getting rained on.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    Areas along the Cascade Crest continue to get small amounts of rain, while areas to the east are influenced more by warm temperatures and periods of sunshine. As the snowpack slowly gets warmer and wetter, the likelihood of triggering a wet snow avalanche increases. Things to look out for are sticky or mushy snow surfaces, rollerballs falling from cliffs or your equipment, chunks of snow falling from trees and other terrain features, and even small point releases in very steep terrain. If you notice these signs of wet snow, consider steering around very steep slopes where a small avalanche could carry you into a terrain trap below. 

    (2/5/2026)

    Wet loose slides on a sun-exposed slope originating in steep, rocky terrain. 

    Photo: Andy Harrington

Avalanche Discussion

The East South zone continues to largely escape the atmospheric river impacting the rest of the forecast region. But there's plenty of new snow in the zone to be influenced by this big weather pattern change. An NWAC Forecaster traveling just over the border in the West South zone spotted a few small wet loose avalanches that had released on a sun exposed slope in the East South on Monday. There was an active wet loose cycle nearby on Stampede Pass in the Snoqualmie Pass zone as well.

Persistent weak layers active in late February and early March are thought to be nearing the end of their lifespan. On the other hand, the last week brought an exceptional amount of new snow to the existing snowpack, and now everything is getting warm and wet. The Bumping Ridge and Green Lake weather stations nearly doubled their snowpack depths, with the former reporting 8.4" snow water equivalent (SWE) and the latter reporting 5.5" since March 8th (generally, 0.1" of SWE is equivalent to 1" of snow). Avalanches releasing on buried weak layers were reported on Sunday in the West South and East Central zones. These avalanches released in wind loaded terrain only. It's something to keep on the brain when you head into the backcountry.

NWAC Forecasters produce more accurate avalanche forecasts when the community chips in. Please let us know what you're seeing out there.

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