Avalanche forecast

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Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Avalanches will be most dangerous on steep slopes where wind-drifted snow accumulated. You can also trigger avalanches where the sun will warm the snow surface. Reduce your risk of by sticking to shaded, wind-sheltered terrain and slopes under 35 degrees. 

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    Put a wide buffer of terrain between yourself and any wind-loaded slope 35 degrees and steeper. You could trigger avalanches from far away and from overhead terrain. The most dangerous areas will be above 5,000ft where the wind deposited snow and formed stiff slabs.

    Weak faceted snow and surface hoar are resting on a crust, about 1.5-2 feet below the surface. Strong westerly and swirling winds stressed these weak layers as slabs formed on lee aspects, even well below ridgelines. At low elevations, these avalanches may act more like your average wind slab, but you may be able to trigger them longer than normal.

    (2/26/2026)

    A couple of large, natural avalanches on a leeward slope. Note blowing snow and crowns well below the ridgeline. This likely ran on a weak layer above the 2/7 crust, ~2 feet below the surface. Cutthroat Lake. ESE, 7,000ft

    Photo: NCH

  • Loose Dry

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

    After a cool and blustery week, the snow will warm on steep, sunny slopes. Watch for loose avalanches as the day progresses. These will mostly be smaller point releases on steep slopes, but they could combine with persistent slabs. If you suspect recent wind loading in similar terrain, it's best to stick to slopes under 35 degrees altogether. You can avoid wet avalanches by moving to shadier slopes as the day progresses. 

    (1/14/2026)

    An example of loose wet avalanches, broken cornices from January. Hinkhouse Peak. S, 7,400ft

    Photo: Josh Hirshberg

Avalanche Discussion

A major warm-up is maintaining dangerous conditions on the heels of a westerly wind event. Blowing snow was intense from the 25th through the evening of the 27th. Drifted slabs of snow added stress to the weak, underlying snowpack. Stay diligent in looking for recent avalanches and wind-transported snow, and give yourself greater margins of safety.

Since midweek, there's been a widespread cycle of natural and triggered avalanches in the Washington Pass area, and possibly near Hart's Pass. On the 26th, an observer near Harts Pass reported a similarly widespread and weak snowpack structure to what we've found elsewhere. Observers reported numerous natural avalanches on leeward, wind-loaded slopes near Cutthroat Lake and in Cedar Creek. Many were large to very large, and some had wide crowns deep enough to have run on a suspected persistent weak layer. Some avalanches were shallower, more typical of wind slabs at the base of cliffs. 

A decent share of the recent avalanches are confirmed or suspected to have run within weak, faceted snow and surface hoar over the 2/7 crust. Over the weekend, there was a report of a widely propagating, but shallow, avalanche near Heather Pass.  On the 22nd, observers near Harts Pass triggered an avalanche on surface hoar, buried 8-10" below the surface. As of the 25th, wind-drifted snow began to stress these weak layers, bury them deeper, and create very dangerous conditions.

1-2 feet below the surface is a weak layer over a crust (February 7th). Immediately above the crust are weak faceted grains and, in some places, surface hoar. The January 28th crust is thicker and another 6-12" deeper.  On southerly aspects, there are more crusts and less dry, weak snow on the surface. West of Washington Pass, overall, the layers will be deeper, with thicker crusts and more snow between them. Further north and east, in places like Hart's Pass and the Chewuch and Twisp River drainages, the snowpack is shallower and weaker. We have little recent information in the eastern mountains and suspect a very weak snowpack.

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