Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Look for another day of warm temperatures, sun, and wet avalanches to kick off the weekend. Don’t expose yourself to steep slopes chocked-full of wet snow, snowy cliffs, cornices, or anything else that will shed snow with continued warm temperatures. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    Wet avalanches went wild today in some parts of the forecast zone with natural wet loose to D2 in size, generally on southerly aspects. Other parts of the Cascades saw more wind and stayed cooler, with little in the way of warming or wet snow. Expect a similar mix of conditions on Saturday as increasing winds and cloud cover keep avalanches in check in some locations, especially in the afternoon.

    You can likely get some wet avalanches or danger-sized rollerballs by pushing around snow on steep slopes full of wet mank. The bigger danger is large avalanches, cornice falls, or glide slabs releasing in terrain above you. Avalanches running thousands of feet through multiple elevation bands are not expected, but confined gully features can sometimes push wet avalanches down into low-elevation terrain. The best policy will be to severely limit how much time you spend below steep slopes or features holding wet, unstable snow.

    Sustained above-freezing temperatures often make for a gurmpy snowpack. Photo from a prior winter.

Avalanche Discussion

Preliminary Report: On Friday, February 28, three snowmobilers were riding near Harts Pass in the East North zone when they triggered a large slab avalanche. Two riders were caught and carried. One rider was fully buried and killed. The other was partially buried and injured. NWAC is working with local avalanche professionals to conduct an investigation. Our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and community. (NE, 6,800ft HS-AM-D2.5-R4-O)

You might find a few lingering wind slabs on the highest shaded slopes in alpine terrain. Most should be small but can still do harm if you take a ride on one in consequential terrain. Use visual clues like scoured snow surfaces and cornices to figure out where stiff slabs may have formed. 

Observers in alpine terrain near Sloan in the West Central forecast zone reported wet avalanches to D2 on southerly aspects. On Thursday, an NWAC Forecaster north of Hwy 2 in West Central found evidence of a widespread natural avalanche cycle that likely occurred during the latest storm on Tuesday.  The new snow has since settled and was observed as well-bonded and unreactive in testing. Other than large avalanches in alpine terrain, the most notable observation was an increasing amount of wet avalanche activity throughout the day. Wet snow and human-triggered rollerballs were even occurring on more northerly aspects. No wind slabs were found, but moderate wind transport and fresh but shallow wind slab formation were noted in neighboring forecast zones.

Multiple wet avalanches to D2 in size were reported in West North on Friday, with one especially noteworthy avalanche running a long distance from mid to lower elevation terrain. Overall less avalanche activity was reported from Stevens and Snoqualmie Pass.

Regions covered