Avalanche forecast

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired 6 months ago.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

Highlights

It will take the right combination of relatively soft recent snow and sunshine to form any avalanche hazard. This is most likely on sheltered slopes at higher elevations. Natural and human triggered slides could occur on steep sunny slopes.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    The recent snow will see sunshine for the first time on Tuesday. Often this results in snow shedding from cliffs and rocks and natural wet loose slides running on slopes below. The trick is, there’s just not much new snow. At least, not at our weather station elevations (up to 5400ft). However, there’s plenty of rocky higher terrain around the Pass. These are the spots that are most likely to produce slides. 

    You may trigger wet loose slides on steep sunny slopes, but this should be easy to anticipate and manage. The bigger concern could be natural avalanches releasing off cliffs and rocks. These natural slides should be isolated to these craggy alpine features and should be relatively small. However, don’t let any of these avalanches catch you off guard, particularly in higher consequence terrain. 

    At middle elevations, there could be a few inches of snow over a mid-storm crust. At these elevations, you may see piles of rollerballs or be able to push a very small loose wet avalanche. These slides shouldn’t be large enough to pose much of a threat outside extreme terrain. 

    (2/4/2026)

    Example: A natural wet loose slide releasing from higher elevation craggy terrain. E. 5800ft. Chair Peak.

    Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

A few weather factors are at play on Tuesday that could impact the forecast, the sky, and the wind. We’re expecting mostly sunny skies. A few clouds probably won’t change the hazard, but if skies become cloudy in the afternoon, there might not be any major avalanche concerns. Increasing SE winds will also do their best to keep surfaces cooler and wet loose issues at bay. You may find that the surface doesn’t become wet and unstable in more exposed terrain. 

While we’re mainly worried about the impact of the sun on the recent snow, a few old wind slabs from Saturday could linger among the higher peaks. These slabs are probably very hard to trigger at this point. However, keep them on your mind before you commit to very steep complex terrain or couloirs.

This series of storms was warmer than we’d like. They brought about 1.4 inches of water to the Pass, but only 4-5 inches accumulated near the top of Alpental. Maybe there’s more higher in the terrain. We’re really only worried about this recent snow over the 2/7 crust/interface. A nasty mid storm crust formed on Sunday, and is now buried by just a few inches of snow. Ultimately, there's just not enough recent snow over the 2/7 or the interstorm crust to pose much of a risk. 

Conditions remain quite challenging. Mushy snow, breakable crust, icy slope, and poor coverage are keeping travel hazards at the forefront of our concerns. In many places, travel issues out weigh the avalanche risk.

Regions covered