Avalanche forecast

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Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

Think about touchy, small avalanches and exposure to terrain traps as you travel on Sunday.  Use caution near and below ridgelines with recently drifted snow, especially on shady aspects at higher elevations.  Small loose avalanches could run further than you'd expect on sunny aspects. 

730am Update: Added Wet Loose problem and updated Middle elevations to Moderate. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Be wary of recently wind-deposited snow on leeward slopes at upper elevations and in isolated areas at mid-elevations.  These avalanches won't be large, so the real concern is that they break wider than you expect in terrain where they've layered over older, weaker snow.  Small avalanches would be especially problematic in high-consequence terrain, like in chutes or above cliffs.  Shooting cracks, textured or wind-stiffened snow, or unstable snow on test slopes are easy ways to gauge the wind slab hazard.  Overhanging large cornices dot the mountain landscape.  Give them plenty of space along ridgelines, and don't linger on slopes below them. 

    Look for shooting cracks in shallow wind drifted snow like in this photo,  just below ridgeline around 6700ft, east aspect.

    Photo: NCH

    (3/20/2025)

  • Loose Wet

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

    If you're not in wind-affected terrain, think about small loose avalanches.  You could trigger fast running sluffs on very steep shady slopes.  On sunny aspects where the new snow layers over a sun crust, you might find that wet loose avalanches, human or naturally triggered, run further and faster than you'd expect.   While these avalanches will be small, don't let them catch you offguard near terrain traps. 

    (12/27/2025)

    As the day warmed up, new, low density snow was easily easily weakened by the sunshine.

Avalanche Discussion

A weather system brought 4-6" of snow to the Washington Pass area Friday night.  Reports from observers on Saturday noted one small natural and two small skier-triggered wind slab avalanches in higher elevation terrain.  Sunday should feature more sunshine, but little change in the overall hazard or concerns. 

Heading into this storm, observers generally found safe avalanche conditions (and generally enjoyable riding conditions on shady aspects) with a variety of weak snow, including near-surface facets in higher open terrain, and surface hoar in more sheltered areas.  Many steep solar aspects had a melt-freeze crust. 

The primary concern moving forward is a poor bond at the new/old snow interface while we wait for more snow to stack up.  There are a few crusts in the top 1.5-2 feet of the snowpack, and some have weak snow adjacent to them. The February 7th crust was 6-8" below the surface and the January 28th crust is below that, at a total depth of 10-16."  On Friday, observers in the Chewuch noted both crusts had weakened on shady aspects, with the upper 2/7 crust barely discernible in some northerly terrain.

Regions covered