Bulletin d’avalanche

East Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

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

Points saillants

Significant recent snow and wind will make it possible to trigger large avalanches at mid- and upper-elevations. Use caution on steep slopes with wind-drifted snow just below ridges and cliffs. Watch for wet avalanches on steep sun-exposed slopes. 

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Loose Wet

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

    As the snow surface warms, watch for moist snow, rollerballs, and natural wet avalanches to indicate increasing danger. If you see these signs, stay out from under steep, overhead terrain. Give yourself options to move to lower-angle or shadier slopes. Use caution where avalanches could push you into rocks, trees, and other terrain traps.

    The day will begin with cloudy skies, but should clear, at least partially, by afternoon. You'll find clearer skies east of the Cascade Crest. Expect earlier warming and more widespread wet avalanches the farther east you go.

    (12/27/2025)

    As the day warmed up, new, low density snow was easily easily weakened by the sunshine.

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Watch for red-flag signs of danger, such as fresh slab avalanches, blowing snow, whumphing collapses, and cracks shooting through the snow. Avoid steep, leeward slopes where you find deeply drifted pillows of snow. Even in wind-sheltered terrain, it's a good idea to stick to well-supported slopes and steer around convex roll-overs. Avalanches could be easier to trigger on both shaded northwest-to-northeast aspects and wind-loaded, leeward slopes. Leeward slopes below ridges and cliffs, where the wind drifts slabs, will be most dangerous and could produce avalanches big enough to bury you. 

    The new snow will continue to form slabs over a crust/weak layer, which exists primarily on northerly aspects. On the 24th, there were reports of natural avalanches and signs of instability on this crust. On the 25th, observers reported much fewer signs of instability.

    (3/15/2026)

    We watched a small loose slide off the cliffs trigger this mini wind slab avalanche. 

    Photo: Katie Warren

Avalanche Discussion

You can expect another 3" of snow with plenty of recent snow to be transported by westerly winds. From Tuesday into Wednesday, middle and upper elevations picked up 1-1.5 feet of snow along with southwesterly winds.

On Wednesday, observers in Cedar Creek and Silverstar Mtn reported wind-affected snow, but few signs of instability. Conditions on Tuesday were more reactive. Observers near Harts Pass reported reactive conditions with natural avalanches running on a crust on northwest-to-northeast aspects. They also reported collapsing and cracking. Southerly aspects were less reactive. 

Rain on the 16-20th formed a crust that was then buried by a small amount of dry snow. The weak layer remained on northerly aspects, but it melted on southerly aspects due to the sun on 22-23rd. On Monday, observers reported that the snow melted into the crust below on southerly, sun-exposed slopes. 

Snow cover is thin on southerly slopes and at low elevations. Be aware of exposed rocks and open creeks. WSDOT has begun plowing operations on Hwy 20 between Silver Star trailhead and Newhalem. The road will be closed to all traffic on weekdays while workers and machinery are operating.

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