Avalanche forecast

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago.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 slab avalanches where the wind forms fresh drifts of snow just below ridges. Choose lower-angle terrain where you identify wind-drifted snow. If you find moist or sticky snow on sunny slopes, you may be able to trigger small wet avalanches.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    If you find it drifts up to 6" deep or cracks that shoot through the snow, steer around drifted areas. You may even be able to trigger avalanches in wind-sheltered areas where you find cracking and stiff snow over softer snow. If you're uncertain, stick to slopes less than 35 degrees or choose wind-sheltered terrain.  Pay attention to differences in snow stiffness as you travel through the mountains to help pinpoint where you can trigger avalanches. Use small, inconsequential test slopes to check how easily the snow slides.

    (11/21/2023)

    Snow drifting onto leeward slopes is the observation that should definitely make you say, "That is a place where there could be a fresh wind slab."

    Photo: Matt Primomo

Avalanche Discussion

If you see rollerballs or moist snow that slides easily, stick to slopes under 35 degrees. 

On Sunday, a skier was caught but uninjured in an avalanche on a very steep slope in the Fleur de Lis run outside of Stevens Pass Resort boundary. 

3-4" of snow fell with southwest winds by Sunday afternoon, and rain started around 3p below 4,100ft. Observers reported wet snow that slid easily at low elevations. Expect another 3" of snow with cooling temperatures by Monday morning. Roughly 8-12” of recent snow sits on the early February crust. Heavy rain at the end of January ago wetted most of the snowpack well into upper-elevation terrain. Low elevations lost significant snow height. Now that the water has drained and the snow has frozen, a stout crust buried in early February is a new baseline from which to measure snow depth.

Since the early February crust was buried, periods of clear sky and cool temperatures have enabled some faceting. In some places, faceted layers - and possibly some surface hoar - have been capped by more snow. The current upper snowpack structure isn't alarming, but it is worth monitoring. The dry snow on the early February crust could be a weak layer of the future.

If you make it out, please share what you found with an observation.

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