Avalanche forecast

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 5 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The avalanche danger is generally low, with pockets of danger below cliffs and other features still holding wet, unfrozen snow, especially where the sun is adding additional warming.  Identify overhead hazards—cornices, glide cracks, snow-covered cliffs—and don’t linger beneath them.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    If you travel into high alpine terrain, you may find small, stiff wind slabs on leeward slopes. These are unlikely to pose much danger unless you’re in steep, consequential terrain with cliffs, crevasses, or other hazards below. Assess how well these slabs are bonded before stepping into steep terrain.

    (3/21/2026)

    Wind-drifted snow up high on Baker's Pumice Ridge. 

    Photo: Harrison Brickman - Bellingham Mountain Rescue

  • Glide Cracks

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

    Glide avalanches, cornice fall, and other wet avalanche problems are keeping the danger from dropping for another day. Likelihood is low, and distribution is isolated, but consequences remain high—even a small chunk of dense, wet snow could cause serious harm, and a larger release or cornice fall would be far more dangerous. The surface will become firmer with cooling, but unconsolidated wet snow likely still lurks just below.

    The greatest risk exists beneath steep, snow-covered cliffs receiving enough sun to keep melting active. These aren’t avalanches you can reliably assess, and you’re unlikely to trigger them. The only real strategy is to limit exposure.

    (3/7/2025)

    Areas seeing sunny weather could also see features like this one continue to sporadically shed snow. Fortunately, they are also very easy to identify and avoid.

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

Any hazard out there is probably more in line with objective mountain hazards than how we might normally think of avalanche danger. For most people in most of the terrain that sees the most backcountry traffic, it’s effectively Low. The terrain where you might actually see a glide or similar avalanche would be on cliffs, rocky features, or weird, low-elevation areas where wet snow is still clinging to very steep slopes. 

Temperatures finally cooled into the high 20s in the Baker Backcountry after a warmer-than-forecast Saturday night. This was also the coldest place in the zone, with most other weather stations showing continued temperatures in the 30s, even at upper elevations. 

Folks who were out on Saturday found that wet snow surfaces were firming up and becoming crusty. The only dry new snow was found way up high on the Coleman Glacier of Mt. Baker, starting at 7000 feet. Moderate winds had drifted some of this snow into small slabs. No new avalanches were reported as of late Saturday afternoon.

Regions covered