West Slopes Central

Clouds and cooling temperatures will keep the chances of avalanches to a minimum. You may see recent evidence of recent, wet avalanches. While it's good to keep an eye out for moist surfaces, these avalanches should be unlikely.

Incoming clouds will thicken by mid-morning and shut off the warming of southerly slopes. Temperatures may remain warm at upper elevations, where it may take longer for surfaces to fully freeze. That said, with lack of sun, the chances of wet avalanches will be greatly reduced.

You may find stiff wind-drifted slabs at upper elevations. While isolated, there could be more recent wind slabs near the Cascade crest, where east winds transported snow onto leeward slopes in the past 48 hours. Both the limited extent of recent drifting and its isolated nature make triggering these avalanches unlikely, but not impossible.

On Tuesday, an NWAC forecaster traveling in mid-elevation terrain above the Middle Fork of the Skykomish observed widespread rollerballs and pinwheels but no avalanches. Snow surfaces were slightly damp on some mid-elevation northerly aspects, while temperature inversions kept most low-elevation snow surfaces cold and dry. The December 24 crust was found about 12 inches down, with generally right-side-up snow above it, aside from firm crust layers.

At Stevens Pass, warm air attempted to push in from the west, but cold air east of the pass finally relented a bit. Solar input produced rollerballs and small, loose wet avalanches on steep southerly slopes, while shaded northerly aspects remained cold and largely unchanged. On Tuesday, moderate to strong easterly winds transported snow onto westerly aspects, though no wind slab avalanches or instability was observed.

In West North, a handful of small loose wet avalanches were reported on the steepest sun-exposed slopes. Glide cracks opened, and an isolated glide release was reported. Northerly slopes remained cold but have settled significantly. Overall, warming, settlement, and time appear to be strengthening the snowpack, though surface conditions remain sensitive to sun and temperature.