Avalanche forecast

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

The Pass should get another few inches of snow accompanied by increasing winds on Saturday. If you’re going to trigger an avalanche, it will likely be on a wind-loaded feature at upper elevations. Look for textured surfaces or smooth pillow-like drifts to help you pinpoint the pockets you should avoid.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    You may encounter shallow Wind Slabs as you ascend in elevation on Saturday. Look for actively blowing snow or new drifts to help distinguish aspects that may be getting wind-loaded. Once you have the direction figured out, you can start to locate specific features such as convex slopes or confined gullies that could be harboring Wind Slabs. Textured surfaces or snow that feels stiffer than the surrounding area and looks more “pillow-like” are visual clues you can use to help determine that a feature is indeed wind-loaded. Once you go through the steps and identify a potential Wind Slab, you’ll be able to easily avoid it. 

    (2/16/2023)

    A very deep avalanche crown near the top of Bryant Peak. This avalanche failed in a wind-loaded spot on 2/13 during the height of a storm. [N 5500']

    Photo: Public Observation

Avalanche Discussion

The Pass picked up a couple of inches of snow on Friday as a quick front moved through the region. Information from the day is limited, but NWAC forecasters snowmobiling near Stampede Pass found that the new snow was failing easily in hand pits. Upon investigation, some weak surface hoar was buried at the interface (2/17), aiding in a poor bond. They found this in multiple locations on shaded slopes but the slab just wasn’t there. Time will tell if this interface becomes an issue resulting in avalanches.

On Saturday, expect similar accumulations to those that we received on Friday. The exception is that winds should be a notch stronger than they were on Friday. At lower elevations, you may experience some periods of mixed precipitation. The recent snow over the 2/17 interface should be sitting on a crust on slopes that typically see direct sunshine. On shadier slopes, it overlays softer storm snow from earlier this week and in at least some locations, those weak grains mentioned above.

No new avalanches were reported on Friday but we had plenty earlier this week. A slab avalanche cycle occurred on Monday during the height of a storm that dropped up to 2 feet of snow on The Pass, creating the 2/13 interface. In the following days, smaller loose avalanches failed with the help of solar input. We suspect any avalanche on Saturday to occur within the 1-1.5 feet of snow above the 2/13 interface with the majority of those avalanches occurring above the 2/17.

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