Stevens Pass

You might find shallow, isolated pockets of wind-drifted snow at upper elevations in extreme terrain where you could trigger an avalanche. But most widespread avalanche concerns are minimal. More common hazards will result from challenging travel over crusts and icy surfaces. 

Thursday brought strong wind but no precipitation to the Stevens Pass zone, and the cold temperatures ended any wet avalanche concerns. There was minimal snow available to drift into wind slabs, but at upper elevations, you might stumble across a small, shallow drift in isolated areas. Winds will taper off on Friday, but temperatures remain chilly and we don't expect significant wet loose activity on sunny slopes. Your primary hazards are likely related to challenging travel on icy crusts rather than avalanches. Older wind slabs are becoming difficult to trigger, but isolated areas where they formed over weak snow layers may still be reactive in the steepest terrain. The most likely places to get caught are upper elevations, very steep unsupported terrain, or confined rocky chutes. This is also the same terrain where a small avalanche could have high consequences, so consider this potential before stepping out into more complex, aggressive terrain. 

After the active weekend, mild temperatures and sunny skies helped strengthen weak interfaces and brought a round of natural wet loose avalanches to the area. On Tuesday and Wednesday, observers in the Stevens Pass zone reported rollerballs and small, wet loose avalanches on steep, southern slopes. These same slopes now also have a 1-inch thick melt-freeze crust on the surface. Observations indicate that even northerly aspects warmed up at mid-elevations and have a very thin crust. Shady, sheltered terrain has a feathery coating of large surface hoar from the recent cold, clear nights. 

Let us know what you see when you're in the mountains by submitting an observation.