Avalanche forecast

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
4 · High
Below
3 · Considerable
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Rain is expected to soak our snowpack up to the highest peaks, resulting in natural avalanches large enough to bury or kill you. Avoid all areas where an avalanche can start, run, or stop. It likely won't be very nice outside, anyway, so you may want to wait this storm out at home.

Avalanche problems

  • Wet Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    We've had a ton of snow lately, and we've been forecasting storm slab avalanches. Well, now it's going to rain, so the problem is switching to the much more unpredictable wet slab. You can't assess these slides the same way you can a storm slab. Your only mitigation tool is terrain avoidance.

    There will also be wet loose slides as the initial rain on snow event occurs, which could be Sunday night. But by the time Monday rolls around, the larger and more dangerous wet slabs will be front and center. They could fail at any of the interstorm layers from last week, or even on the crusts at the base of the storm snow. Additionally, cornices could collapse.

    Don't leave this one to chance. You should avoid all avalanche terrain - anywhere slides can start, run, or stop.

    (3/8/2026)

    Wet avalanche debris in the Alpental Valley from one of our last rain events. We expect more widespread and larger slides to occur on Monday.

    Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

It was nice while it lasted, snow lovers. After a solid week of winter storms, we're back to high freezing levels with rain in the forecast. We may get an inch or two of snow before the switch happens. But all terrain within the Snoqualmie Pass zone is expected to receive rain during this event. With roughly 5 feet of generally cold, dry snow to work with, wet avalanches could grow large to very large as they descend. This is one of those times where hanging out in the meadows or lower in avalanche paths may not be wise, even though the hazard isn't high at lower elevations. 

Within last week's snow, there are two prominent layers. The 3/12 crust is generally about 3 feet below the surface and may have been the culprit in many of the natural and human-triggered avalanches reported on Friday. Roughly a foot below that, you'll find the 3/8 crust at the base of all the storm snow. Is there enough rain in the forecast for water to reach these crusts? It's a bit on the edge, but if water makes it, very large and destructive slides could follow.

Again, travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended on Monday.

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