Avalanche forecast

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Your main concern is wet avalanche activity, which will likely be limited to steep, sunny slopes at all elevations. If you see rollerballs or wet avalanches fanning out, transition to cooler slopes or stick to lower angle terrain away from steep slopes. Snow may be sticky in the sunlight, or shady aspect have breakable crusts that could make for challenging travel at mid and lower elevations. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    Warm wet weather on Sunday led to wet loose avalanches on all aspects at lower and mid elevations. Sunday night skies cleared, and wet avalanche activity was limited to sunny slopes on Monday. Rollerballs and predominantly small, shallow avalanches resulted. You can expect similar conditions on Tuesday. Lower elevations have already been so impacted by rain and wet snow that you can expect less activity down there. 

    A distinct difference on Tuesday is that incoming midday clouds will likely have an effect on wet loose activity, as it could lead to one of two things happening: 1) wet activity could slow with clouds inhibiting the sun's intensity, or 2) cloud cover may cause "greenhousing", where snow on all aspects moistens and wet loose avalanche activity occurs everywhere.  

    Focus on snow surfaces around where you travel- Is the surface moist? Are you causing rollerballs or small shallow avalanches, or do you see them on steep slopes near you? If you say yes to any of these questions, it's time to start planning an exit strategy. Transition to cooler aspects or stay off and away from slopes steeper than 35°.

    (1/6/2025)

    Steep cliffy terrain on the south side of Seward Peak produced a few large wet loose avalanches. Low and mid elevation areas saw warming and wet activity on Sunday. But upper elevation terrain produced on Monday with strong sunshine and high freezing levels.

Avalanche Discussion

Snow surfaces vary quite a bit depending on where you travel. A breakable crust exists at most low and mid elevations. Sunny slopes will soften quickly and become moist. Prepare for challening snow conditions during your outing. 

There's a small chance that you could trigger an avalanche in a wind slab pocket at upper elevations. There also may be a chance that isolated pockets of preserved surface hoar exist at the New Year's interface about 2ft deep at upper elevations. In most areas these appear to have broken down and are no longer reactive, but information at upper elevations is very limited.  

South-facing aspects that became sun-baked on Monday may not have as much avalanche activity as the previous day. Clear overnight skies will hopefully lock all surfaces up for Tuesday morning. Temperatures are supposed to get warmer during the day and with incoming cloud cover we're not sure exactly how the radiation balance will pan out and how much wet avalanche activity we'll see. 

About 6" of snow fell at mid and upper elevations Friday afternoon into Saturday, and then another 6" or so fell Saturday into Sunday. Storm totals varied widely throughout the zone. These storms were relatively warm, with wet loose avalanches and shallow natural storm slabs resulting. Most of the storm instabilities that failed during and just after the storm have settled out. 

Regions covered