Avalanche forecast

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

You may be able to trigger slab avalanches in wind-exposed terrain above treeline on Thursday. If you see blowing snow or wind-textured surfaces, consider avoiding steep slopes or sticking to wind-sheltered slopes. Southerly winds may form new slabs on the highest slopes and will be strongest in the morning.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    Look and feel for signs of drifting such as blowing 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.

    Thursday morning could be a challenging time to travel at upper elevations. Strong southerly winds could blast the high peaks and form shallow slabs. Be ready to assess the wind slab hazard with your team. Winds have formed drifts from a variety of directions over the past week. On Tuesday, westerly winds increased following a major east wind event on Saturday. At this point, it may 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 around 2-4" snow on Thursday. Early this week, observers reported surface hoar forming on a variety of slopes. It may have melted or been blown over by wind. Look for surface hoar just under the surface of recently fallen snown wind-sheltered slopes. It could be a problematic weak layer for future storms

Layers of weak snow and 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. 

It's still early season and the snowpack may be hiding shallowly buried hazards of rocks and stumps, especially at lower elevations. Let us know what you see by submitting an observation!

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