Bulletin d’avalanche

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Sat
Alpin
2 · Modéré
Limite forestière
2 · Modéré
Sous la limite
2 · Modéré
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 4 months ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

There’s a lot of recent snow out there, and the dynamic spring weather could result in a variety of conditions throughout the day and from slope to slope. Make sure the routes you pick don’t back you into a corner and force you to travel through potentially dangerous terrain on the way back to the car.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Loose Wet

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

    On one hand, more sunshine and warmer temperatures on Friday should result in wet loose avalanches. That’s pretty simple. However, this has been a bit of a trickle, trickle, trickle in this dry-to-wet transition. Each of the past few days brought moments of sunshine and a few natural and triggered slides. This may ease the transition and help prevent things from coming unglued. 

    As the surface becomes warm and sticky, you may trigger small wet slides. These probably won’t be too scary unless they grab hold of you and start dragging you towards dangerous terrain. It's really the chance for natural slides that are on our mind. Pay attention to what’s happening on nearby slopes and be ready to head to shadier or less exposed areas. 

    Snow shedding from rocks and trees is often the trigger for these slides. If you start noticing chunks of snow falling from cliffs or fresh piles of rollerballs, it’s time to limit time under steep sunny slopes. Most of this activity should stay on the southern half of the compass, but it’s April, and you may notice wet snow even in more northerly terrain.

    (4/16/2026)

    This natural wet avalanche ran out of the Bryant Peak Couloir area. It ran an impressive distance down the slope towards Source Lake. 

    Photo: Eddie Schoen

  • Wind Slabs

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

    There’s not a lot of evidence of wind affected snow out there. However, Alpental Patrol triggered several slabs with explosives on Thursday. A few of these failed all the way down on the 4/14 crust. That’s a little spooky. 

    It may be tough to tell which slopes are good to go, and which may be dangerous. These slabs typically released in terrain below cliffs and on more exposed and steeper convex slopes. Give similar areas a wider berth. Avalanches could be 2-2.5 feet deep; easily big enough to bury or kill a person.

    (4/16/2026)

    Explosive triggered slab avalanches that failed at the base of the new snow. These slides ran on the 4/14 crust. 

    Photo: Summit at Snoqualmie: Pro Patrol

Avalanche Discussion

The last few days have been a mix of clouds and sun, allowing the snow to remain relatively cold and dry. That should change on Friday as more sunshine and warmer temperatures appear on tap. This recent storm was good for the Pass. Storm totals ranged from 10 inches near Pass level, to 2 feet at middle elevations, and even closer to 3 feet up high. Moments of sun and mild temperatures caused the new snow to settle considerably. Generally, observations found the new snow is right-side-up and well bonded to the old crust. At the moment, we aren’t concerned about layers deeper in the snowpack, but that could change if these stout crusts weaken. 

The new snow certainly made the mountains look and feel more like winter. However, it also hid many of the rocks, logs, and holes we’ve been avoiding. Coverage is still thin, particularly at lower elevations and on southerly slopes. This storm didn’t change that.

Régions couvertes