Avalanche forecast

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
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Out of date — this forecast expired 6 months ago.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

Warming temperatures have consolidated the upper snowpack into slabs you are likely to trigger on any aspect above widespread weak layers. Stick to shaded slopes under 30 degrees. Reduce your exposure to slopes receiving direct susnhine where wet avalanches could originate in terrain overhead, or also pull out a larger slab.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    A combination of warming temperatures and winds have formed widespread slabs overlying reactive buried surface hoar and/or faceted grains down 1.5-2 ft on all aspects. The snow surface is unlikely to give you the typical warning signs of instability before you trigger a large, widely propagating and surprising avalanche. You can mitigate your risk by sticking to slopes less than 30 degrees, recognizing that you could trigger avalanches on connected steeper slopes nearby.

    In areas prone to westerly wind loading, avalanches could be dangerously large and may break widely across terrain feature. And with unusually warm weather, the slab reactivity has remained higher for longer. Monday's warmth could also initiate cornice fall or wet loose avalanches, leading to a slab as they descend the slopes below.

    (3/1/2026)

    Snow machine triggered large (D2) persistent slab and self extricated on 2/28. Darland Mt. NE aspect, 6700 ft.

    HS- AMu-R2-D2-O @ NE, 6700' Photo: Northwest Avalanche Center

  • Loose Wet

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

    Full sunshine and even warmer temperatures will maintain wet loose avalanche danger on sun-exposed slopes at middle and upper elevations. Crusts have formed during the recent dry weather. If you notice that you're beginning to sink into moistened snow, or you see fresh rollerballs falling down from cliff bands or your own equipment, mark that as a sign that conditions have changed and wet loose avalanches are turning on. Although most avalanches will be small, exposed and barely submerged hazards abound in the terrain right now and would increase your risk in any slide, especially on southerly slopes. Lower elevation terrain, by and large, still does not have enough snow for this problem to be more than unlikely. 

    Example: A wet loose on a SE aspect near White Pass. 

    Photo: Northwest Avalanche Center

Avalanche Discussion

NWAC forecasters on Darland Mountain on Sunday found evidence of a large, snowmobile triggered avalanche that occurred on 2/28, confirming the severity of persistent problems in the ES zone.

Near the site of the avalanche, the forecaster found surface hoar buried on 2/13 on all aspects, just above weak faceted snow buried on 2/7. Snowpack tests on the 2/13 interface revealed consistent reactivity (PST 35/100 to end), and sudden collapses on compression. However, they did not find the collapses and whumphs that might be more typical warning signs as you move through the terrain. The situation is scary and very difficult to manage, which means your self-discipline to use the terrain is the best way to stay safe in this unforgiving snowpack environment right now.

The Darland Mountain avalanche may be the only recent reported persistent slab avalanche in this zone, but that is due to a scarcity of observations. Looking around the region, every zone in the Washington Cascades is dealing with a similar problem. 

Weather stations in the zone picked up 1.2 inches of snow water equivalent this week, which now sets the weak layers down 20-24 inches below the snow surface in the Darland Mountain area at 6700 ft. At lower elevations, these depths will decraease. However, where the wind has transported snow, the depth of overlaying slabs could be double that. Some photos of distant terrain in East South confirm that the recent strong-extreme west wind definitely impacted the zone.

Recent southerly flow helped precipitation accumulate in areas further east, bringing some accessibility to struggling sno parks back online. That said, the snowpack is still thin, particularly in the trees, at lower elevations, and on southerly slopes. Creeks, holes, and logs make routes convoluted or even impassable. Give yourself time to deal with our interminable "early season" conditions, and know that some hazards may be obscured by recent snow.

It takes a village to accurately forecast avalanches and create better forecast products for the community. Please let us know what you're seeing out there.

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