Avalanche forecast

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Very warm temperatures, a poor freeze, and a chance for rain in the late afternoon will increase the chances of wet avalanches. While the most obvious avalanches will be small wet loose slides, you should also be on the lookout for cornice falls and glide avalanches, which could be much larger. Give yourself options to move off steep slopes before they become wet and weak, and don't linger below cornices and snow covered rock slabs. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    If you see recent avalanches, rollerballs, or wet, weak snow that slides easily, move to more frozen or lower-angle slopes. Timing and location will determine where you are most likely to encounter avalanches. Plan your travel to move off slopes before they become wet and weak. Steep, easterly aspects will be the first to melt and could be unstable by 10 am. Northerly aspects and upper elevation slopes could be especially reactive and dangerous as they melt for the first time. Increasing clouds in the afternoon could slow the warming on westerly aspects.  A chance of rain after 5p, will increase the danger on all slopes.

    Cornice fall and glide avalanches will be isolated, but they could be very dangerous. They're often big enough to kill a person on their own, and they frequently trigger larger slides on the slopes below.  Minimize time spent below large, overhung cornices or other unstable snow features. If you're heading into upper-elevation alpine terrain, use extra caution around craggy features and corniced ridges.

Avalanche Discussion

On Friday, an NWAC forecaster traveled on sun-exposed slopes in the Skyline Lake area. Steep, southeast slopes below 5,000ft softened by mid-morning and were weak enough to trigger rollerballs by 12p. Some isolated areas near rocks were beginning to get unsupportive for boots. 

There's plenty of older avalanche debris from the late-March (23rd-24th) atmospheric river rain event and subsequent warm-up.  As much as 8" of snow accumulated over the rain crust that eventually froze over the past week. On shaded and upper elevation slopes, you may still find this recent snow. It could be reactive as it warms for the first time.

Regions covered