Avalanche forecast

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Start your day with a conservative plan and assess new snow stability before considering avalanche terrain. The greatest danger will be on slopes holding slabs of recently wind drifted snow.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Very strong winds and moderate snowfall built unstable slabs on Wednesday. Continued loading overnight will carry this hazard into Thursday morning as well. Be aware that a small wind slab avalanche could pull out a larger one that releases in deeper layers. When in doubt, just avoid slopes holding recently wind drifted snow to reduce the likelihood of triggering an avalanche.

    Many windward slopes are scoured down to crust while loaded ones hold thick, dense slabs. As usual, danger from wind slab avalanches is greatest in more wind exposed terrain, but strong winds have created slabs at lower elevations as well. If the wind is still blowing, drifting snow will show you which slopes are loading up. Track changes in snow texture, stiffness, and depth to hunt down fresh slabs if you find calmer conditions. Simple tests like hand shears and small slope cuts can show the bond of wind slabs to the layers below.

     

    (2/19/2025)

    A widely propagating slab on a heavily wind loaded slope in the Baker BC. Triggered with a bit of stomping from the lower-angled terrain above.  Southwest aspect at 4700'.

    (HS-ASc-D1-I)

Avalanche Discussion

Thursday should bring slightly cooler temperatures but you might see a few sunbreaks in the afternoon. Keep track of slopes picking up some sun, and look for signs of instability like rollerballs or small wet avalanches. You are most likely to see these below cliffs or steep tree covered terrain.

Wednesday brought stormier conditions and more avalanche danger than expected. Observers in the Baker BC reported very strong winds, lots of wind transported snow, and reactive wind slabs on a variety of aspects. The slabs were failing at a thin layer of soft snow above a crust that formed a few days ago on all aspects. Most notable was the wide propagation of some of the wind slabs. Also, it was easy to trigger from lower-angled terrain above a steep wind-loaded slope instead of needing to load the slope directly. One person triggered a slab above them from lower on the slope.

West North picked up anywhere from 4-10” of dense new snow throughout the day. Much of this was redistributed onto leeward slopes with drifts and slabs up to 2’ thick. Other than instability at the wind slab-crust interface, the old snow surface buried on Feb 15th is still on the radar. No avalanches have been reported since the 17th, but testing still produces propagation. It may be harder to trigger an avalanche at this interface, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see a small avalanche step down to it.

Regions covered