Avalanche forecast

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
3 · Considerable
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 6 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

A powerful storm with extreme winds will form thick slabs throughout the terrain. You could easily trigger an avalanche on any steep slope, but avalanches will be much larger where the wind drifts snow deeper. Avoid traveling on steep terrain. Instead, seek out low-angle slopes sheltered from the wind. 

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1.5–2

    This next pulse of moisture will bring significant snowfall over onto the east slopes of the Cascades, increasing the potential for even large storm and wind slabs. Snow levels will likely top out overnight, along with peak instability before a sharp cooldown. But avalanches will remain easy to trigger.  Cracking, recent avalanches, and test slopes that slide easily are all signs of instability. But even if you don't see obvious signs, err on the side of caution and stick to low-angle slopes, sheltered from the wind. You could trigger an avalanche on most steep slopes, but extreme winds will build widespread, large wind slabs. These steep wind-loaded slopes are likely to be the most dangerous places. You can identify wind-loaded terrain using visual clues such as drifts and textured surfaces. With wind speeds up to 60mph, wind slabs are likely to form in odd locations, farther downslope, or in typically sheltered terrain. 

    Areas near the Cascade Crest continue to be favored with higher snow totals, so expect more widespread and larger avalanches farther west in the zone. 

    (3/6/2026)

    A test slope showed unstable cracking in wind-loaded snow.

    Photo: Payton Schiff

Avalanche Discussion

Even though snow levels will cool and precipitation will taper on Thursday, the winds will likely keep howling longer into the day. This could prolong instability and, at times, create blizzard-like conditions. Areas near the Cascade Crest have had significantly more recent snow and are likely more dangerous. If you're traveling in these western parts of the zone, check out the Stevens Pass or Snoqualmie Pass forecasts. We've been tracking the 2/13 buried surface hoar and facets around the 2/7 crust. Avalanche activity on these layers was isolated to wind-loaded terrain after the last February and early March storms, and we haven't had any activity since March 2nd.  While these layers haven't shown signs of reactivity in a while, this storm could change that. Given the ongoing loading, avalanches on these weak layers could now be more likely. But we won't know much about this problem until after the storm passes. So treat these weak snow layers as highly suspect until we can reduce the uncertainty. 

Regions covered