Avalanche forecast

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

While you should find generally safe avalanche conditions Tuesday at the Pass, if you encounter unstable snow it will be in an isolated wind drift. Take a moment to look for firm pillow-like slabs you may want to avoid before committing to higher consequence slopes.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1

    If you travel to higher elevation exposed terrain, you may find a few small pockets of wind-drifted snow. So, before you ascend or descend a committing line, make sure to take a moment and look for clues that this could be one of those isolated wind-loaded features. Blowing snow, sharp cornices, or firm smooth drifts could indicate a potential wind slab. While most of these slabs are several days old and very hard to trigger, easterly winds on Monday likely built very small fresh pockets that could still fail under your weight.

    (12/29/2022) Blowing snow and sharp wind lips above a freshly formed wind slab. Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

Several days of quieter weather has allowed the snowpack to continue to gain strength and heal. As a result, we expect generally safe avalanche conditions Tuesday. 

A long stormy period finally ended on New Year’s Eve at Snoqualmie Pass. At lower elevations, heavy wet snow and rain later in the storm created variable conditions including rough surfaces, open creeks, and icy patches. As you ascend above ~4500ft, the recent snow becomes much drier. Storm totals at these mid elevations ranged from 15-25 inches (35-65cm). This has now settled to 12-18 inch (30-45cm) of snow over the Christmas Crust. Sunshine on New Year’s Day caused steep southerly aspects to become moist and eventually formed a new crust on these same slopes. Soft settled powder continues to linger anywhere that didn’t receive direct sunshine. 

Avalanche activity this past week was primarily limited to a few human-triggered wind slabs in rock-walled chutes and several small loose wet slides on Jan 1. Going forward we don’t currently expect any avalanche concerns below the Christmas Crust. 

 

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