Avalanche forecast

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

You may be able to trigger slab avalanches in wind-exposed terrain above treeline on Wednesday. If you see or feel shooting cracks, stiffer snow, or wind-textured surfaces, consider avoiding steep slopes or sticking to wind-sheltered terrain. West winds may have formed new slabs at upper elevations.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Look and feel for signs of drifting such as stiff surfaces, pillowed snow, cornices, and sculpted features. Steer around obviously loaded portions of a slope. You can also use small test slopes and snowpack tests to determine if the surface snow could slide easily or break as a slab.

    If you venture into upper elevations, be ready to assess the wind slab hazard with your team, as it could change through the day. Westerly winds increased on Tuesday and may have built new wind slabs. They may not be everywhere and only on peaks that held enough soft snow available to drift. East winds had more significant effects at upper elevations on Saturday. It will now be difficult to trigger these older slabs.

    (12/3/2022)

    Winds increased Saturday afternoon, producing plumes of snow flagging on Mt Lichtenberg.

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

There's a chance for another dusting of light snow on Wednesday. Observers reported surface hoar forming on a variety of slopes, though it likely melted on steep south aspects where recent sun crusts have been found . It's still early season and the snowpack may be hiding shallowly buried hazards of rocks and stumps.

Layers of weak snow and slick crusts were buried by a series of storms in mid to late November. Some observers reported finding weak, faceted grains near the ground on steep northerly aspects. Elsewhere, observers found the layer as stronger snow or melt forms. Older weak layers generally haven't been a problem for avalanches in this zone as much as in the East Central zone. Future storms could be enough to activate the weak layers to produce surprising avalanches. Because of the persistent nature of faceted grains, we will continue to closely monitor this as more and more snow piles up on it. 

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