Snoqualmie Pass

Even with generally safe avalanche conditions, you may trigger shallow slides on isolated slopes within the recent snow.  If your travels take you into higher consequence terrain with cliffs, rocks, or confined features don’t let a very small avalanche catch you off guard.

Snoqualmie Pass continues to add a few inches at a time to the snowpack. By mid-day Monday you may find 4-8” of snow over the 1/13 crust. Despite its relatively shallow and right-side-up nature, the surface snow contains several complexities. On Sunday new snow likely buried weak surface hoar, facets, and/or, on sunny aspects, a thin crust. At the moment there just isn’t enough snow over these weak layers to present a hazard. This surface snow sits over a very strong and sometimes icy layer (1/13) created during the atmospheric river earlier in the month. This crust generally presents a “new ground” for avalanche issues. We don’t anticipate layers failing below this robust curst and it may serve as the bed surface for future avalanches. With all the weak snow concentrated at the snow surface, you should continue to find generally safe avalanche conditions. 

While we don’t expect significant avalanche risk on Monday, that doesn’t mean you cannot trigger avalanches. You may see loose avalanches on very steep slopes, particularly during periods of sunshine in the afternoon. On exposed ridgelines and other wind prone areas, you could find shallow pockets of wind drifted snow. In both of these instances, you could trigger very small avalanches on isolated features. However, these slides should not be large enough to harm you on their own. If your plans take you into confined chutes or cliffy terrain, don’t let one of these very small slides surprise you. Even small avalanches can kill you when they involve terrain traps. 

The new snow should slightly improve travel Monday. However, you may still encounter challenging and sometimes firm conditions. Expect icy slopes in areas where the 1/13 crust sits closer to the surface, such as in wind-exposed slopes and under dense trees. Frozen irregular snow and piles of old avalanche debris continue to pose a unique difficulty for all travelers. A few inches of new snow may hide the snow conditions making it challenging to predict. Give yourself extra time and patience to deal with these non-avalanche hazards.