Avalanche forecast

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired last year. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

A strong overnight freeze should help lock up the snowpack and create generally safe avalanche conditions. As the surface softens, wet loose slides could become possible. Don’t let one of these small slides catch you by surprise in high consequence terrain. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    There shouldn’t be much of a wet loose problem to start the day. However, as the protective crust breaks down, there will be more and more wet snow available to slide downhill. Use your boot to monitor changes in the snow surface. When you find wet snow deeper than your ankle, it’s time to move to a less sloppy aspect. With warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine, only the highest and most shaded slopes might escape the heat. 

    While we’re confident the surface will soften, we think it will stop short of becoming deep, wet, and dangerous. If you start to sink deeply into wet heavy snow, see avalanches entrain more than just the surface, or notice snow falling off rocks, the scales have tipped, and it’s time to dial it back. Much larger gouging wet loose slides could be next.

    (4/5/2025)

    Use your boot to monitor the changing snow surface conditions. 

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

This is the last avalanche forecast for the 24-25 season. Mountain weather forecasts will be published each afternoon through April 27th. NWAC will continue to monitor conditions and issue special avalanche bulletins and warnings as needed. A huge thanks to everyone in our community for your support this winter

A cold, clear night should allow the snow surface to freeze solid. The strength of this freeze is the real key to the low avalanche danger. You could encounter very firm and even icy conditions in the morning. Sunday will be the first warm and sunny day during this high pressure period. Shed-style avalanche and cornice collapses should be unlikely, but the snowpack hasn’t fully transitioned to spring at middle and upper elevations. The further we go into this warm period, the more likely these types of avalanches become. Pay attention to what’s above you and don’t linger under looming cornices or snow covered rock faces. 

If you head higher in the terrain, there could be dry snow from Thursday night’s storm. This might include pockets of wind drifted snow. These slabs will be 3 days old on Sunday, and it will probably take a very steep or unsupported slope to get them to fail. If you travel above our forecast area (~7500ft), it could be a different world up there. Don’t expect the low danger to go with you. Be ready for a much more winter-like snowpack and avalanche concerns. 

You can certainly tell it's spring in the mountains. Open creeks, holes around rocks, patches of bare ground, and tree debris are becoming more and more common. This is particularly true at lower elevations where the snowpack is thin.

Regions covered