Bollettino valanghe

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Fri
Alta quota
3 · Marcato
Limite del bosco
3 · Marcato
Sotto il limite
2 · Moderato
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Non aggiornato — questo bollettino è scaduto 8 months ago. Stai vedendo condizioni passate, non il bollettino in corso.

In sintesi

A wintry pattern continues with more snow and wind that will create hazard on all aspects and elevations, but hazard will increase as you gain elevation. Particularly in areas closer to the Cascade Crest, the chance of triggering a slab avalanche large enough to kill you exists in both sheltered and exposed terrain. The most clear signs of instability include recent slab avalanches, long shooting cracks from your equipment, and collapsing.

Problemi valanghivi

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Likely
    Dimensione
    1–2

    As is typical for the Cascades, more snow has fallen and will fall closer to the Cascade Crest, so hazard is higher in these areas. Less typically, the snow is low density. As it continues to stack up, it will be easily blown around by moderate to strong wind. 

    Anticipate unstable slabs of wind drifted snow first thing in the morning, and continued development throughout the day. You should always look for signs of wind drifted snow on all aspects, but keep this especially in mind, as the wind direction has been shifty. Slabs will be deeper on north and east aspects. Look for obvious clues of loading, such as blowing snow, sharp drifts, textured snow surfaces, and a change to denser feeling snow underneath you. Wind slabs typically form just below ridgelines or along gully walls (cross loading). Thursday marks a good day to steer around steep, exposed slopes.

    (1/7/2026) A large, human triggered wind slab avalanche in the Steven's Pass zone on Wednesday. Luckily, this person successfully deployed their airbag and stayed on top of the debris.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    1–2

    As the snow continues to stack up, consider the chance that it is settling into an unstable, cohesive slab in sheltered terrain too. Storm slab instability should be relegated to areas near the Cascade Crest that receive higher snow totals. Use an inconsequential but steep test slope or quick hand pits to assess stability. Steer around big steep slopes if you experience the same red flags you'd see in a wind slab problem: cracking, collapsing, and recent avalanches.

    Where storm snow is not settling, keep an eye out for sluffs of loose dry snow in very steep terrain. Even a small avalanche could knock you off your feet and carry you into exposed hazards or terrain traps.

    (1/6/2026)

    A small test slope like this is an excellent place to test for storm slab instability, as this observer did.

    Photo: Adam Butterfield

Avalanche Discussion

As of Wednesday afternoon, weather stations near the Cascade Crest were reporting 1-1.4 inches of precipitation (generally, 0.1 inches of precipitation is equivalent to 1 inch of snow) since Tuesday morning. However, with how low density all of this new snow has been, snow depths are much deeper. A NWAC forecaster traveling in the Salmon La Sac on Wednesday found 21 inches at 5300 ft, and one can only assume even more snow fell higher up.

That NWAC forecaster experienced widespread but localized collapsing and found some instability in small column snowpit tests. Another 6 inches are expected through Thursday afternoon for areas near the Cascade Crest, with significantly less snow totals further east once again. The difference in Thursday is how much windier it will be. There is a chance of gusts up to 50 mph along ridgelines in the afternoon. So, wind and storm slab hazard remains.

As far as snowpack structure goes, there is a similar structure zone wide, although we're still filling in the gaps for upper elevations. A crust formed on 01/02 exists in the upper portion of the snowpack on most aspects and is now buried by this week's snow, as well as a smaller amount of snow from the weekend. This crust is refrozen and supportable above 5000 ft. Below this, a stiff slab is found, with a mixed number of melt freeze crusts within, depending on aspect. The hefty atmospheric crusts created by rain in December are buried deeply beneath.

Overall snowpack depths, however, are more variable. You'll find a significantly deeper snowpack above 6000 ft as well as in the Salmon La Sac, Teanaway, and possibly areas up north. If you find yourself in higher terrain or more far-flung areas further north, consider reading the East North forecast and dig down to look for weak layers that could exist within the upper portion of the snowpack.

Open creeks, downed logs, and other hazards have continued to be an obstacle at lower elevations and areas with shallower snowpacks. They may be obscured by new snow, so take your time as you move around the backcountry. In choosing terrain to ride, consider the consequence of a slide- if one happens, where will it take you? Look for slopes with a clean run-out free of bone-breaking trees, creeks, and rocks. 

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