Bulletin d’avalanche

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Thu
Alpin
2 · Modéré
Limite forestière
2 · Modéré
Sous la limite
2 · Modéré
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 2 years ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

Increasing winds and clouds will be accompanied by lowering freezing levels on Wednesday as we shift toward a more seasonable weather pattern. Wet avalanches will remain possible until this transition is completed later this week. Choose travel routes limiting your exposure to snow shedding from above.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    1–2

    Wet avalanche activity should be trending downward. It won't be eliminated on Wednesday, however. Most slides should be loose and confined to the surface snow but could gouge down into older snow in isolated locations. In addition, snow shedding from rocks, cornice falls, and slab avalanches can't be entirely ruled out. Continue to minimize your time in and below avalanche terrain until the surface has frozen later this week.

    (3/19/2024)

    This slightly larger wet loose avalanche on Kendall Peak began to gouge into older snow. 

    Photo: Dallas Glass

  • Glide Cracks

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    2

    Shed-style avalanches are erratic and impossible to predict. A handful of these avalanches failed over the weekend, and we wouldn't be surprised to see more this week. Whether glides, cornice collapses, or blocks of snow shedding from rocks, these large and unpredictable slides could occur at an hour of the day. This isn't the type of avalanche you trigger; it's the kind you avoid. Pay close attention to the terrain above you. Choose routes that help limit time traveling below crevasse-like cracks, looming cornices, or snow-covered faces.

    (3/17/2024)

    This glide avalanche released sometime during the night. Rockface, Alpental.

    Photo: Alpental Patrol

Avalanche Discussion

Wednesday will be the start of a transition toward more seasonable weather, with decreasing freezing levels and increasing winds and clouds. We're in no way throwing the snowpack into the freezer, however. It will still be warm; but a notch lower than what we experienced during the better part of the last week. Throughout this hot and sunny period, we've experienced multiple nights above freezing, daytime temperatures soaring into the 50s and 60s, and little wind. These factors have resulted in a multi-day wet avalanche cycle, which peaked at different times in different locations. NWAC forecasters spotted new wet avalanches throughout the zone on Tuesday. They varied in character and size but included the whole spectrum of wet problems - loose, cornice, glide, and slab.

The likelihood of this cycle continuing has decreased but not been eliminated. Wet avalanches are notoriously challenging to forecast, and water can linger in the snowpack long after the surface has started to freeze. There is no simple observation to let you know the scales are tipping, and often, the danger remains elevated for days. All of these factors make managing these conditions very difficult for backcountry travelers. Continue navigating terrain cautiously by avoiding overhead hazards and staying off steep slopes. As temperatures slowly lower, the surface will begin to freeze, and this cycle will draw toward a close.  Until that happens, wet avalanches remain possible. 

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