Avalanche forecast

West Slopes South

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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Even as the storm starts to taper, look for signs of recently drifted snow. Sharp cornices and textured surfaces point toward loaded slopes. If you find deeper and stiffer pockets of snow on the sheltered sides of exposed features, you’ve located the problem you’re trying to avoid.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    More snow and wind on Sunday night could only add to the wind slabs that started forming during the day. They may become deeper and firmer. By Monday morning, most of the active wind loading should be over, and these slabs will start to heal. This often makes them harder to spot and, possibly, less likely to trigger. 

    Use visual clues like drifts, cornices, scouring, and rime to figure out where the wind affected the snow and to anticipate potential slabs. Often, we think about wind slabs along ridges, but they can also occur in the tops of chutes, below rocks, and on exposed mid slope features. 

    Most of these slabs should be soft and easy to test. Use small slopes and drifts to see if they crack and fail. Higher in the terrain, or in particularly windy locations, you might find firm or hollowing feeling slabs. These aren’t a version of wind slab you can assess. Instead, just give them a wide berth

    This tiny wind loaded pocket failed on Sunday. These slabs could be thicker and wider on Monday. (1/4/2026) Photo: Evan Pierce

Avalanche Discussion

Monday should provide a break between storms. One big question mark remains the sky. In general, the West South zone should stay cloudy with only a few sun breaks. However, if the skies start to clear and the sun remains out for a longer period of time, the snow surface could become wet and sticky. New rollerballs and the snow shedding from rocks/trees are a good indication that the snow is feeling the sun. Natural and wet loose avalanches could follow. The best chance for sunshine, and wet loose slides, will be near the Cascade Crest for locations like Crystal, Government Meadows, and Mt Adams. 

Our focus is on the snow over the most recent “crust.” On Friday, rain and wet snow reached at least 7000ft in much of the zone. Now, around a 8-12 inches of colder snow has buried this layer at middle elevations. As it starts to freeze it will become stronger and more noticeable. This happens quicker where it’s shallow, like on scoured slopes. Where it’s deeper, it may stay soft and punchy. Below this new crust, the snowpack is generally strong and well settled. 

On Sunday, observations reported plenty of blowing snow, but wind slab development was harder to pin down. Several travelers noted wet heavy snow at lower elevations. Overall, the northern half of the zone picked up around 6-8 inches of snow, with a foot or more falling farther south. This brings the total since Friday evening to 10-15 inches of snow over the Jan 2 crust.

Regions covered