West Slopes Central

Be prepared for firm snow in the morning that softens as the day warms up.  Put a buffer between you and large overhanging cornices when traveling along ridgelines.  Don't linger beneath smooth, steep, rocky terrain where isolated glide avalanches may release without warning.   

In the morning, be prepared for firm surfaces and make sure you have the proper traction tools before crossing steep, firm, or even icy slopes.  As the day warms up, larger human or natural wet loose avalanches are unlikely, but you may still see small natural wet loose avalanches releasing below sunny rocky terrain.  Later in the day, if you find yourself sinking into wet, mushy snow deeper than your ankle, move to lower angle terrain or different aspects.  Make sure to evaluate the consequences of a smaller slide near terrain traps.   

Assess the slopes you're traveling near or under.  Give yourself a healthy buffer while traveling in known glide terrain, anywhere you see glide cracks (the brown frown), or just blocks of snow clinging to steep rocky terrain.  Blocks of snow can release without warning as we move back and forth between spring and winter-like temperatures.   When traveling along corniced ridgelines, make sure to leave a healthy buffer between you and the edge.  They can surprise travelers by breaking further back than you expect. 

After 3 days of above-freezing temperatures,  cooler weather arrived late Monday night and Tuesday.  The change in the weather led to firm surface crusts in the morning, observed on all aspects in the neighboring Mt Baker backcountry (and good corn skiing by mid-day), as well as by a group in Boston Basin on the border of West Central and West North.  Clear skies and cool-ish temperatures Tuesday night should help surface crusts re-form overnight on all aspects.  Warmer weather on Wednesday will help those crusts break down once again, but it's unlikely to drastically raise the avalanche danger.  You may find drier, softer snow hanging on in higher elevation, shady terrain.  A forecaster on their day off was enjoying a rest with views on Saturday when they witnessed a natural avalanche cycle just north of Snoqualmie Pass in the southern portions of the West Central zone. At least some of the activity appeared to have initiated from cornice fall (media gallery).  

There is hardly any snow below 3500'.   Be prepared for inconsistent snow coverage until you're above 4000-4500', and even then, it's aspect dependent.