East Slopes North

If you're traveling near and west of the Cascade crest, you may find a dusting to a few inches of new snow.  In these areas you could find some very small windslabs at the highest elevations, and it won't take long before warming and sunshine create the potential for small wet loose avalanches on very steep slopes.  In areas in the shade without much new snow, you'll likely find firm travel conditions. 

On Wednesday and Thursday light snow showers may have amounted to a few inches of new snow near and west of Washington Pass. Westerly winds were in the moderate range, and you could find lingering small pockets of wind slabs in alpine terrain on Friday. Temperatures are forecast to warm, and if you do find yourself in an area where a few inches of snow has accumulated, it won't take the spring sun long before the new dry snow begins to change. If you see pinwheels or rollerballs, small wet loose avalanches may not be far behind. In this scenario, use caution on or below very steep slopes where even a small wet loose avalanche could push you over cliffs or other terrain traps. 

With SR 20 road clearing operations underway midweek and professional operations in the area spinning down for the season, your observations are as important as ever. If you're out and about, give us a shout and let us know what you see. 

A widespread natural wet loose avalanche cycle occurred last weak in the Washington Pass vicinity.  While recent avalanche activity centered on wet snow avalanches, there's still some winter-like layering to keep tabs on. On wind-sheltered NW-NE aspects near and above treeline, observers found near-surface facets 1-2 feet below the surface and often above a crust. This weak snow layer was involved with persistent slab avalanches near the Mount Baker ski area and other parts of the Cascades. A layered, winter snowpack may still exists on some northerly aspects at higher elevations. Even though the avalanche danger is low, it's worth digging to look for any weak snowpack structure before committing to steep terrain. 

A deeper persistent weak layer still exists in the zone that was responsible for avalanches in early March. The layer can still be found about 3 feet deep, sandwiched between eroding crusts on NW-NE aspects near and above treeline and was particularly problematic in the Harts Pass area. The most recent of these occurred on March 9th in Allen Basin. While triggering an avalanche on this layer (the late January facets) is highly unlikely, the consequences could be serious. You can limit your exposure to shallow, rocky areas and steep and unsupported slopes. See the avalanche occurrence database for more details.