Avalanche forecast

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

It'll be windy on Monday, and you're likely to trigger an avalanche in newly wind-drifted snow. Beneath the new layer, firm surfaces will likely exist, and any drifts or deposits thicker than a few inches may slide easily on the underlying crust. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Strong winds will redistribute snow into drifts, possibly a foot or deeper in places. Deposits tend to form around rocky outcroppings and other features, in gullies, and on the leeward side of ridges or subridges. Sometimes, only a subtle change in the terrain is enough to build thicker, reactive drifts in one spot, stripping snow from surfaces only a few feet away. 

    Search for smooth, rounded drifts or textured surfaces to help you identify wind slabs. Look for actively blowing snow and notice where the snow lands. Steer around steep, wind-drifted slopes on Monday. 

    Sunday night and on Monday, we'll get about six inches of snow. This will be enough for small drifts down low, and potentially larger ones at higher elevations, where more precipitation landed as snow earlier in the storm. 

    (3/8/2026)

    Extensive wind transport in the small amount of new snow that fell above 5000ft as temperatures cooled in the Baker backcountry. Search for flagging along ridgelines, like this, as obvious clues to avoid slopes beneath these areas. 

    Photo: Julz Holder - Grounding Truth

  • Wet Slabs

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

    There was far more rain and warmer temperatures than we expected Saturday night through Sunday morning. A couple of wet slab avalanches released early morning in the Mt Baker Ski Area vicinity, after over .75" of rain was recorded at Heather Meadows in a period of 3 hours. Several observers in the Baker backcountry saw one additional small wet slab in the Corner Pocket area at about 5000ft on an east-facing slope. 

    We expect that with the freeze that finally arrived midday Sunday, any lingering weaknesses in underlying layers will quickly lock up. Wet slabs do have a habit of remaining very unpredictable, however, so we're keeping this as a problem for another day, despite the solid surface crust quickly forming. 

    There could be lingering cornice falls or a glide crack or two opening up as cooling happens. Beware of traveling beneath large overhead hazards like large, saggy cornices, recently wrinkled snow, or newly opened glide cracks. As for wet slabs, it's hard to pinpoint where they may happen. Consider traveling quickly beneath large, open slopes during your outing. Any wet slab failures would be a low-probability, high-consequence scenario: if you were caught in one, it would probably kill you. 

    (3/8/2026)

    A large wet slab avalanche released at 6am in the morning in previously unskied terrain, after a 3-hour period that resulted in over .75" of rain. The slab was reported as having a 30" crown, likely failing on one of our underlying weak layers that are progressively healing. 

    Photo: Mt Baker Ski Patrol

Avalanche Discussion

A midday clearing occurred Sunday as temperatures plummeted. Crusts formed on surfaces. In areas where the crust formed, incoming snow may not stick well to the underlying crust. Slabs could slide easily on the firm surface, or likewise, low-density snow that falls with these cold temperatures could "sluff", or slide easily, as loose dry avalanches. 

An abundance of rollerballs were found on nearly all steep slopes during the cloud break on Sunday. They mainly occurred Friday night as temperatures reached above freezing. Beware variable, bumpy hard surfaces in areas beneath the new snow. 

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