Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

Dangerous avalanche conditions will continue even though heavy rain should end on Sunday. Avoid travel below big, steep slopes, cornices, cliffs, and rocky terrain covered in snow.

Avalanche problems

  • Wet Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2–3

    Wet slabs, falling cornices, glide slabs, and wet loose avalanches still present a serious danger to backcountry travel. You can’t really do much other than stay out of the way. Don’t travel on or under steep slopes

    Continued rainfall and additional natural avalanche activity overnight should back off by Sunday morning. But the snowpack is saturated and temperatures will only climb higher. Wet, unstable snow isn’t going to suddenly get less wet or more stable given the current weather pattern. It will take some time for all this water to drain out of the snowpack. Melting won't end until temperatures cool off. If heavy rainfall loiters into the morning anticipate more avalanches and High danger.

    Low elevations have lost much of their snow and avalanche danger is less because there just isn’t much left to come down. That being said, some low-elevation slopes still have consistent snow cover, cliffs can shed any snow still clinging to them, and larger avalanches could still run from mid-elevation terrain. While the danger might be less down low, you definitely shouldn't lower your guard.

    (1/27/2024)

    Large wet slab and wet loose avalanches nearly made it to Upper Bagley Lake from the steep, north aspect of Table Mt/West North.

    Photo: Pete Durr - USFS

Avalanche Discussion

Rainfall came on strong up and down the west slopes on Saturday. The Finney Creek Snotel picked up 1.6”. The Alpine Meadows and Skookum Creek Snotels saw 1.7” and 1.4” of rain respectively. The Heather Meadows weather station in West North recorded over 2.0” of rain from 6 pm on Friday through 4 pm on Saturday. The lowlands received the most precipitation with BLI seeing almost 6” in 24 hours.

To the north of West Central, numerous wet loose, wet slab, and glide avalanches to D2 were observed on all aspects at mid-elevations. Some ran nearly full path into the flats below. Avalanche danger definitely reached High for much of the day. Visibility was poor and lots of folks just avoided backcountry travel, so observations were limited.

A coating of freezing rain but the brakes on wet avalanches in Snoqualmie Pass. Warm temperatures and heavy precipitation were slow to arrive at Stevens Pass with the first small avalanches noted in late afternoon. Given the similarity in rainfall amounts and snowpack prior to this storm, avalanche activity in West Central is probably more similar to that of West North than the passes. 

Regions covered