Avalanche forecast

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Is Tuesday the day when temperatures warm and wet avalanches become a problem? Only time will tell, so pay close attention to snow surfaces. If you see rollerballs or the snow feels wet and sticky, move to lower-angle slopes. Upper elevations and sunny slopes will be the first to show signs of wet, weak snow. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    You can trigger wet loose avalanches on steep slopes, or they can release naturally from snow shedding from trees or rocks. You'll likely find this problem on steep southern slopes warming up in the sunshine. With cold east-flow and inversions, it will be challenging to anticipate where and when this problem will occur.  Instead, use key observations, such as pinwheels, trees shedding snow, or moist surface snow. If or when you start to see these signs, move to lower angle or shady terrain. 

    Some steep, due south aspects already have a thin surface crust that must break down before we observe any wet avalanche activity. To really begin to see wet snow start to move, it will likely take a combination of warm temperatures and sun. If they start to happen, avalanches may be easy to trigger, large, and run on crusts beneath the new snow. If it stays cold, we might not see any activity at all. With entrenched cold air on the east slopes, you should expect more wet avalanches at upper elevations and in areas west of Stevens Pass. 

    (12/27/2025)

    Wet avalanches often start from steep rocks warming up in the sun. 

    Photo: Adam Butterfield

Avalanche Discussion

The battle between cold air east of Stevens Pass and warm air moving in from the west will continue on Tuesday. We expect temperatures at mid and upper elevations to climb above freezing, but these forecasts are always tricky. Use surface observations of wet snow to help you determine increasing danger from wet, weak snow. 

It has been a few days since any reports of natural or triggered storm or wind slabs. But there may be some isolated, very steep, alpine terrain features where you could get caught offguard by a wind slab. Be diligent about making frequent observations on many small test slopes before you step into new terrain, particularly at upper elevations where we have no direct observations. 

There is nearly 6' of snow above 5000ft at Stevens Pass, but coverage is still thin at lower elevations with many creeks, holes, and brush poking out of the snowpack. Surfaces are mostly soft snow with increasing amounts of wind affected surfaces as you gain elevation. The sun produced a thin crust in some areas, but it was limited to very steep, direct south aspects at mid-elevations. Overall, observations indicate a moderately strong snowpack.  There are two crusts within the upper and mid-pack. The 12/24 crust is buried 1-1.5' deep. In some locations, it presents as a crust complex with weak snow in between an upper and lower crust. Stability tests on Monday produced moderate, low-quality results on the weak snow inbetween these crusts. The 12/18 crust is buried 2-2.5' deep and showed no signs of instability. 

Regions covered