Avalanche forecast

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 6 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Wednesday will be the warmest day of the week. Continue to be leery of steep, sun-exposed slopes where the recent snow could destabilize in the midday sunshine. Any triggered avalanche will likely slide easily on a firm crust. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Wet loose slides will remain possible on steep, sun-exposed slopes. With a firm underlying crust at the base of the recent storm snow, any initiated slide could travel long distances. Wednesday should be warmer than Tuesday. However, it will be the second day in a row that the new snow sees sunshine, instead of an initial shock to the system. Additionally, an overnight refreeze is expected on slopes that got wet and sticky on Tuesday, resulting in a new surface crust. These competing factors may lead to less reactivity of the wet problem or possibly short-lived stability in the morning hours.

    Your plan should be to keep an eye on the snow surface. If the surface crust breaks down, leaving the snow wet and sticky, these slides will become more likely.

    Although there's not much snow clinging to the rocks and cliffs, there is some. It could fall during periods of intense sunshine, triggering avalanches on the slopes below. Keep aware of terrain above you and default to lower-angled or shaded slopes if you see new avalanche activity or can easily push snow on the underlying crust.

Avalanche Discussion

We're back into sunshine and warm temperatures. On Tuesday, NWAC forecasters in the Alpental Valley were able to easily trigger wet slides on the underlying 2/7 crust. Once initiated, these slides were traveling downhill with ease, picking up mass and fanning out as they went. Natural wet slides were also spotted, generally where snow had shed from rocks or trees in the morning sunshine. 

The pleasant surprise was to find soft, dry snow on the shaded half of the compass. With a few gusty winds, this dry snow was being sifted around, but no actual wind slabs were spotted. All the same, the signs were present, and an observation from Mount Snoqualmie indicates that there may have been unstable wind-drifted snow. So take that into account if you're headed for confined chutes or more extreme terrain on Wednesday. Any triggered avalanche, whether dry, wet, loose, or slab, could fail easily and run far on the underlying crust. The bond to the 2/7 crust was found to be poor on Tuesday.

Although avalanches may trigger easily and run far distances, they shouldn't be all that big. NWAC forecasters consistently found about 6 inches of storm snow at mid to upper elevations over the burly 2/7 crust. Even if they're relatively small, wet avalanches can pack a punch. Don't let one push you into one of the many holes or shallowly buried rocks that litter the mountains. These natural hazards have been with us all season and could be your primary concern in some locations.

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