Avalanche forecast

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired last year. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Cooling temperatures are slowly reducing the chances of wet avalanches, but not entirely. You can still trigger avalanches on slopes steeper than 35 degrees where you find wet, usupportive snow. Use caution on and under steep slopes and avoid stopping under cornices and large open avalanche paths. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    If you're going to trigger an avalanche tomorrow, it will likely be a wet loose avalanche. That said, wet slab avalanches could still be an issue. Avoid steep slopes that hold wet, saturated snow. While less likely, there's still a chance that wet avalanches could run naturally. Stay out from under steep overhead terrain. If you need to travel through avalanche runouts, move quickly and pick well-protected, safer areas to stop. Cornice falls and glide avalanches could have serious consequences. Whether you're on ridges or slopes below, give cornices and open glide cracks a wide berth. 

    (3/25/2025)

    A deep crown, over 1000ft wide, of a very large (D3) wet slab avalanche.

    Mt Mastiff, WNW, 6,500ft

    Photo: Josh Hirshberg

Avalanche Discussion

On Thursday, temperatures will cool and unsettled weather will bring a dusting of snow to upper elevations. Where the snow has yet to freeze, wet, unsupportive conditions will make for challenging travel.

The Stevens Pass zone received over 4" of liquid water at 5000ft from March 23-25th. This initiated widespread avalanches, including many large to very large wet slab avalanches. While observations indicate that the avalanche activity is tapering off, consider the consequences of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Choose your terrain wisely, and pay attention to the terrain in terrain well above you.

On Tuesday, an NWAC forecaster observed the widespread avalanche activity that occurred at the beginning of the week in the Highway 2 corridor. Very large (up to D3) wet slab avalanches with widely propagating and deep crowns occurred at upper elevations. At lower elevations, wet loose avalanches (Size D1-2) ran on most steep slopes. The snowpack was saturated to about 1 ft deep, with moist snow below that. Rain runnels and water pooling on deeper layers in the snowpack indicated that drain channels had been established and free water was moving through the snowpack. 

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