Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired last year. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

A storm brought around 6 inches of snow to the zone Tuesday night. Many sun breaks likely led to a crust on the southern half of the compass and a few small wet slides, but you can expect more wet avalanches with warmer temperatures on Thursday. Small pockets of wind-drifted snow at upper elevations might avalanche with a human trigger. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    A warm, sunny day will lead to moistening snow surfaces, rollerballs, and maybe some wet loose avalanches. Much of the natural activity will likely be around rocky or shallow features, or possibly initiated from a tree bomb. Even if there isn't much natural activity, venturing out onto a steep slope could result in triggering a wet avalanche. 

    Pay attention to the sun's position and what steep slopes face directly towards it. These surfaces will likely moisten and surface layers could lose cohesion quickly. Depending on your timing and snow conditions, you may not get much activity, or, maybe many will slide. If snow around you starts getting wet, expect that you could trigger an avalanche if you're on a steep slope. Wet snow could slide easily on the underlying smooth crust. 

    If there is much natural wet avalanche activity or snow is noticeably wet, avoid traveling on steep slopes or beneath them where an avalanche could reach. 

    (3/5/2025)

    Rollerballs initiated as not long after the sun hit steep slopes that were directly facing the sun. There wasn't much for actual natural wet loose avalanches, just an abundance of small rollers. In the neighboring West North zone. 

    Photo: Zack McGill - Cascade Mtn Ascents

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    Light to moderate wind was present as the new snow layer arrived Tuesday night. Wind drifted surfaces were visible, yet it just doesn't seem like they had enough of a slablike quality for wind slab avalanches to occur, even with a human trigger. In neighboring zones many people tested slopes up to mid elevations, however only a few very small pockets avalanched with a human trigger.

    We have less information from upper elevations, where you should start conservatively and test small slopes and wind-drifted features before stepping out onto larger ones. Use hand tests to see how easily the slab slides on the underlying layer, most likely a crust. An increase in wind on Thursday may mean that more wind slabs could develop, and they might be more reactive than the previous day's. When in doubt, avoid steep, wind-loaded slopes. 

    (3/5/2025)

    The one small wind slab avalanche seen during a large outing in the neighboring West North zone. This was likely triggered by a cornice. 

    Photo: Robert Hahn

Avalanche Discussion

Even avalanches that may not be large enough to bury you could still kill you if you're caught in one or knocked over while you're above a terrain trap. Stop and reevaluate the snow before entering an area where you're above an abrupt bench or gully, over a cliff band, or patch of trees or rocks.

Your largest hazard for the day could very well be old hard debris piles beneath the new snow,or even just the smooth, slick crust under the new layer. If you venture onto steep slopes,  you might be able to trigger small dry loose avalanches. Steep slopes impacted by the sun the previous day will start the morning with a crust.

An atmospheric river bringing rain to upper elevations produced many large and very large wet avalanches February 21-23, some of which stepped down to the January Drought Layer 3-5ft beneath the surface. The storm concluded on the 25th with 1-2ft of dry snow and subsequent small to large storm slab avalanches. The storm totaled about 7 inches of water. By February 26, temperatures increased, and wet avalanches overwhelmed our forecasts for the next five days. Now the previously wet snow surface has frozen and our avalanche concerns are mainly limited to the shallow new layer. 

If you make it into the backcountry please share with us what you find by submitting an observation HERE or on the Avy app. 

Regions covered