Bulletin d’avalanche

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
Voir sur la carte

Danger d’avalanche

Sat
Alpin
2 · Modéré
Limite forestière
2 · Modéré
Sous la limite
1 · Faible
Open full map
Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 5 months ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

You'll likely encounter both dry and wet avalanche problems on Friday as the storm wraps up and temperatures soar. You're more likely to trigger a sizable avalanche in wind-loaded terrain, while sun-exposed slopes could produce loose slides. Make travel plans that allow you to manage natural hazards down low and a mix of avalanche problems as you ascend.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Wind-loaded terrain is the most likely location for you to find slabs large enough to bring about real consequences on Friday. Leeward slopes near ridgelines, convex rollovers, or rocky terrain, such as confined chutes or the base of cliffs, are common locations where the wind tends to deposit snow during storms. Evaluate these areas carefully before you commit to a slope. 

    You can use visual clues such as large drifts, fresh cornices, or textured surfaces to assess these features. If you find that the snow is deeper and stiffer than the surrounding area, you may have found a wind-loaded slope and should retreat the way you came. Using uptrack tests or small test slopes can help you identify how the snow reacts to your weight as a traveler and whether slab potential exists.

    If you suspect a slope is wind-loaded or find that the upper snowpack has slab potential, find a different path.

    (4/2/2026)

    A widely breaking avalanche near the base of rocky terrain. This one broke both uphill and downhill from this photo, spanning a few hundred feet.

    Photo: AMGA

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    1–1.5

    As the clouds dissipate and temperatures rise throughout the day, expect an increase in wet loose avalanches on sun-exposed slopes. Activity may start with snow shedding from trees and rocks, producing rollerballs and pinwheels. But as the April sun further destabilizes the snow surface, it will be easier for you to push wet slides of your own or for those pinwheels to turn into actual avalanches. With a good amount of recent low-density snow from Thursday's storm, these slides could start to grow large as they descend. Don't get caught off guard by one in consequential terrain.

    If the snow is moist and deeper than your ankle, you should head for shadier aspects, keeping an eye on slopes above you.

    (4/2/2026)

    Rollerballs and human-triggered wet loose slides were reported in the afternoon on 4/2 as temperatures increased. Expect more widespread activity on Friday.

    Photo: AMGA

Avalanche Discussion

Thursday was a bit of a proper storm day at Snoqualmie Pass. Observations from the zone are a bit limited, but weather stations indicate that roughly 8" of snow fell at the top of Alpental, accompanied by gusty winds. Over on Mount Rosevelt, backcountry travelers observed slightly deeper storm totals and increasing avalanche activity throughout the day. The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) is running a course in our zone, and the aspiring guides reported that sensitive slabs were breaking shallowly and widely in mid-elevation terrain. It appears that they were failing on a mid-storm density break, not at the 3/25 crust, but the width of some of these slides is impressive. In neighboring zones, faceted snow has been reported between the 3/25 crust and the 3/29 interface, but this has not been confirmed at Snoqualmie Pass at this time. 

On Thursday afternoon, the April temperatures and some filtered sunshine made their presence felt, with an increase in wet avalanche activity. Expect this avalanche problem to quickly move front and center on Friday as temperatures soar and the clouds dissipate. Wet avalanches will remain a problem throughout the weekend as freezing levels continue to creep higher.

Unfortunately, there still isn't much snow at lower elevations, despite this storm. You will likely see wet avalanche activity in the lower elevation band, but the majority of it won't be large enough to reach the threshold to be called consequential avalanches. Instead, you'll need to continue to manage holes, creeks, bare ground, or shallowly buried hazards as you make your way into the mountains.

Régions couvertes