Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Continued warm weather will maintain our concern for Wet Loose avalanches in the West Central zone. With a poor overnight freeze expected, you could encounter avalanches earlier in the day despite increasing clouds. Consider the threat of larger and more destructive avalanches due to cornice falls or other shedding events when making your travel plans.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    Our warm spell should continue Saturday night into Sunday despite some incoming clouds. This will keep Wet Loose avalanches as the most likely problem you’ll encounter during your travels. Take note if the snow surface is wet and sticky or if you see new rollerballs and pinwheels wherever you’re traveling. Wet Loose avalanches could soon follow, starting at a point and fanning out as they descend. To manage this problem, you should head to shadier slopes, keeping aware of overhead hazards such as cornices or hanging blocks of snow that could release without warning.

    (3/17/2023)

    Two wet avalanches, up to size D1.5, near Slate Mtn in the neighboring West North zone. [S, 5,400ft.]

    Photo: Lee Lazzara

Avalanche Discussion

As alluded to above, a poor overnight freeze is expected Saturday night, so we could pick up right where we left off on Sunday morning with wet and sticky surfaces. In contrast to Saturday, we aren’t expecting full sunshine plus we should see a return of breezy easterly winds in the southeastern part of the zone. Despite these weather input changes, conditions remain largely the same. In general, the snowpack does not like rapid change. Coming out of a recent cold and snowy pattern right into this warm period is considered rapid on a snowpack scale and we could see some unique avalanches as a result. The threat of isolated very large avalanches where blocks of snow such as cornices or glides fail due to the springtime temperatures is still on our radar and should help shape your travel plans.

Observations from the West Central zone continue to elude us, but neighboring zones reported plenty of wet avalanche activity up to size D2 on Saturday. Temperatures at most NWAC weather stations soared into the 40s with a few low-elevation stations even reaching the 50s. It's not a stretch to imagine similar avalanche conditions were met within the West Central. In the nearby West North zone, Mt. Baker Pro Patrol triggered multiple 6-foot deep slabs during mitigation work on Shuksan Arm for the second time this week. While not natural avalanches, these deep slides continue a pattern of unique and difficult-to-predict avalanches that have occurred in the past week around the region.

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