Avalanche forecast

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired last year. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Recent rainfall and now unseasonably warm temperatures will maintain the threat of dangerous wet avalanches and cornice failures. Wet avalanches can be difficult to predict and could be incredibly destructive if they do release. The best way to reduce your odds is to give steep slopes a wide berth and limit your time spent under big terrain.

Avalanche problems

  • Wet Slabs

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

    Unseasonably warm temperatures will maintain the threat of destructive wet avalanches (slab and loose). Over the last 48 hours, the snowpack has absorbed over 1 inch of rain. Warm temperatures on Tuesday will only keep the water moving through the snowpack. While it may feel like a nice spring day, don’t approach terrain like it's a stable, spring snowpack - because it's far from it. Wet loose avalanches are often considered to be more manageable, but don't be surprised if these are easy to trigger and grow large quickly. They could be triggers to larger wet slab avalanches in the right (or wrong) spot.

    Leading up to this rain event, we saw a good amount of new snow - wind - and a pattern of reported triggered and natural avalanche activity around the region. Slabs were thick, especially in wind drifted terrain. So, ease out of this warm-up  with caution until the meltwater production is shut off with a proper refreeze. Keep in mind that wet avalanches are notoriously hard to predict and forecast, so the best strategy to increase your safety buffer by avoiding travel and limiting time spent under big terrain.

    Additional Discussion:

    Sagging cornices and glide cracks may exist across the zone. Give these chunks of snow and frowning cracks a wide buffer.

    (3/24/2025)

    This wet loose avalanche at Crystal Mountain entrained significant amounts of snow as it descended from the higher elevations on Monday. All manner of wet avalanches remain a possibility on Tuesday.

    Photo: Crystal Pro Patrol

Avalanche Discussion

While it may not be raining on Tuesday, avalanche conditions remain complicated and dangerous, especially closer to the Cascade Crest. 

Wet snow avalanche forecasting is incredibly challenging each day we move past the initial warm-up or rain event without a proper refreeze. Wet avalanches can occur several days after these periods, often without warning. This keeps us on our toes as forecasters, and it should help keep your terrain selection simple until we see a proper refreeze later this week. 

So far, the zone has picked up 1-2 inches of rain since Sunday, 3/23. This rain fell on a dry, layered snowpack above 5000 ft. Observations have been sparse on a regional scale due to rough travel conditions and poor visibility, but a few notable ones from Snoqualmie Pass, Holden Village, and Crystal Mountain trickled in. These reported large wet debris piles down at lower elevations that likely ran from elevations several thousands of feet higher. We suspect there will be more of this type of activity on Tuesday. 

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