Bollettino valanghe

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Wed
Alta quota
2 · Moderato
Limite del bosco
2 · Moderato
Sotto il limite
1 · Debole
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Non aggiornato — questo bollettino è scaduto 6 months ago. Stai vedendo condizioni passate, non il bollettino in corso.

In sintesi

Depending on wind effect, you might find either surprisingly reactive drifts, or very little newly transported snow. If there is actively blowing snow or you notice heavier, newly wind-drifted layers, steer around deposits that are greater than about six inches over the crust. If there is little wind or you're in sheltered areas, you're likely to trigger loose snow "sluffs" that run easily on steep slopes. 

Problemi valanghivi

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Extensive wind transport on Sunday quickly moved new snow into stubborn slabs, and we expected wind to continue on Monday, but that didn't materialize, at least in the Heather Meadows area. A shift in wind for Tuesday may result in newly developed wind slabs that could avalanche with a human trigger. Depending on where you are in the zone, conditions may be very different. 

    Search for heavier-feeling snow beneath you, and look for textured surfaces or thicker, smooth, and rounded pillows of snow. You're most likely to find newly developed slabs around rocky outcroppings and other features, in gullies, and on the leeward side of ridges or subridges. In some areas, only a subtle change in the terrain is enough to build thicker, reactive drifts in one spot, stripping snow from surfaces only a few feet away. 

    If you encounter bullseye clues like long, shooting cracks, that's a clear warning sign to avoid steep slopes. Steer around steep, wind-drifted slopes where there's more than about six inches sitting over the crust on Tuesday.

    (2/20/2026)

    Subtle signs of wind loading along the more exposed ridges. 

    Photo: Dallas Glass

  • Loose Dry

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Likely
    Dimensione
    1–1.5

    Non wind-loaded steep slopes are likely to produce "sluffs", or loose dry avalanches, in the low-density snow that exists. Some sluffs may run naturally, but if you enter steep terrain, you're likely to initiate one of these avalanches. This may be your biggest problem on Tuesday, depending on what the wind does. 

    A loose dry avalanche may remain shallow, only impacting the top few inches of snow. Or in areas where a slide becomes more funnelled, like in a gully, the sluff could gouge deeper, possibly down to the underlying crust. One of these slides may not be enough to bury you, but you wouldn't want to get caught in it, especially in areas where a terrain trap could amplify the consequences of getting caught. 

    Example photo: Loose snow avalanches can easily intitiate on steep slopes on Tuesday. 

Avalanche Discussion

A crust beneath the new snow will be noticeable where the new layer is thin. When snow surfaces were wet, before the crust formed, many steep areas had many loose wet avalanches, resulting in a chunky, bumpy crust. Before temperatures cooled, there were lingering concerns for wet slab avalanches with the several inches of rain that saturated the snow before the surface froze. We no longer suspect that large avalanches will fail naturally on deeper weak layers, although it's not completely out of the question that a large cornice fall could trigger a larger avalanche on a deeper layer. 

Observers in the Heather Meadows area found about 4 inches of snow over the crust. Above 5000ft, there was 6-8" of highly wind-affected snow well bonded to the crust from earlier Sunday. No cracking or avalanches were observed in the thicker layers above the crust. An inch or two of snow will fall Monday night, and another few inches on Tuesday. Snow and warmer temperatures are in the forecast for Wednesday, with an uptick in avalanche danger.  

There are hidden hazards that could have almost a foot of dry snow further disguising them. Beware of mysterious holes surrounding rocks, hidden trees, and creek holes. These are in abundance even in the mid elevations, given the shallow snowpack that exists this year. 

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