Avalanche forecast

East Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 6 months ago.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 and a bit of precipitation could add another layer of uncertainty to a tricky snowpack. Avalanches will be most likely in rocky terrain, on unsupported slopes, and wind affected areas. Choose routes that give you an easy exit, in case conditions become more active than anticipated. 

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5–2.5

    Persistent weak layers have been well documented in the East North zone. Avalanche activity occurred on a variety of aspects, but so far, it has generally been localized to wind loaded slopes. Interestingly, many of the widest slides released on southerly aspects. The culprit? Weak, sugary facets sit just above the 2/7 crust, often 1-2 feet below the surface. 

    As temperatures warm on Friday, we could see avalanche activity spread to non-wind affected areas. This includes at lower elevations, where water could begin to affect this layer. Will this result in additional slides? Hard to say. As the uncertainty with this problem rises, look for terrain that gives you options to quickly and safely dial it back. If you seen any fresh slabs, steer clear of similar terrain. 

    At higher elevations, wind loaded terrain will continue to be suspect. These slabs are a few days old, but that might not matter if they're sitting on facets. Continue to steer clear of wind affect slopes along ridgelines and in the tops of chutes. 

    (2/28/2026)

    A widely propagating natural avalanche below Cutthroat Peak. This avalanche is suspected to have failed on weak snow over the 2/7 crust. 7000ft, S-SW aspectN-R4-D2.5-O 

    Photo: NCH

  • Loose Wet

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

    Warm temperatures and a bit of drizzle could make the snow surface wet and manky. Rain already reached near 6000ft in the past few days, so this won’t be the first time the snow has seen water, but it could become wet and unstable nonetheless. Natural avalanches may occur as snow sheds from rocks and trees, or you may trigger a slide in very steep terrain. Overall, these avalanches should remain small and shallow. However, they could act as a trigger for the underlying weak layers, causing larger slab avalanches. 

    (1/14/2026)

    Example: Wet loose slides could trigger deeper slabs similar to this even earlier this winter. 

    Photo: Josh Hirshberg

Avalanche Discussion

This series of storms hasn’t brought much snow to the East North zone. Weather stations near the crest have eaked out 0.2-0.4 inches of water and a couple of inches of snow. Sadly, the warm temperatures seem to be the big story. Valley temperatures continue to hover in the 40s, while Washington Pass bumps along at or just below freezing. Unfortunately, conditions should warm further Friday into Saturday. Not exactly what we want to hear. 

While the wet surface snow will be the most obvious concern. Weak layers in the snowpack continue to hold our attention. After several days of avalanche activity, things have been quiet. Maybe the persistent grains have started to heal, or maybe the warm weather has less people venturing out in the snow. Hard to say. Either way, don’t write these layers off just yet. 

Hopefully, the wet surface snow will start to freeze. This will be most likely where skies clear Thursday night. As this new crust becomes stronger and more supportable, it could change how the underlying snow acts. This crust could vary widely across the zone.

Regions covered