West Slopes Central
Backcountry Avalanche Forecast
Author: Irene Henninger
Issued: Sunday, March 29, 2026 at 6:30 PM PDT
Expires: Monday, March 30, 2026 at 6:30 PM PDT
The Bottom Line
The Bottom LineNew snow amounts and avalanche activity vary widely in the zone, with about six inches of snow in the northern parts, and closer to one or two further south. In areas where the snow starts reaching about six inches over the crust, and especially where it's drifted into firmer deposits, expect snow to easily avalanche on the underlying crust on steep slopes. Steer around these areas, or expect that you'll trigger an avalanche if you venture there.
Avalanche Danger
Monday, March 30, 2026
7500-5500ft2 - Moderate
5500-4500ft1 - Low
4500-2500ft1 - Low
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
7500-5500ft1 - Low
5500-4500ft1 - Low
4500-2500ft1 - Low
Avalanche Danger ScaleLearn moreGeneral InfoGeneral Information1 - LowLow2 - ModModerate3 - ConsConsiderable4 - HighHigh5 - ExtrExtreme
1 - Low | 2 - Moderate |  3 - Considerable |  4 - High |  5 - Extreme | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel Advice | Generally safe avalanche conditions. Watch for unstable snow on isolated terrain features. | Heightened avalanche conditions on specific terrain features. Evaluate snow and terrain carefully; identify features of concern. | Dangerous avalanche conditions. Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding and conservative decision-making essential. | Very dangerous avalanche conditions. Travel in avalanche terrain not recommended. | Extraordinarily dangerous avalanche conditions. Avoid all avalanche terrain. |
| Likelihood of Avalanches | Natural and human-triggered avalanches unlikely. | Natural avalanches unlikely; human-triggered avalanches possible. | Natural avalanches possible; human-triggered avalanches likely. | Natural avalanches likely; human-triggered avalanches very likely. | Natural and human-triggered avalanches certain. |
| Avalanche Size and Distribution | Small avalanches in isolated areas or extreme terrain. | Small avalanches in specific areas; or large avalanches in isolated areas. | Small avalanches in many areas; or large avalanches in specific areas; or very large avalanches in isolated areas. | Large avalanches in many areas; or very large avalanches in specific areas. | Very large avalanches in many areas. |
Avalanche Problems (1)
Problem #1: Wind Slab
Problem Type
Wind Slab
Aspect/Elevation
Likelihood
Size
Example photo: You can trigger an avalanche on a wind slab in areas where snow depths start reaching about 6 inches in depth. You can expect that they'll slide easily on the crust, but remain small due to limited snow amounts.
Snow is most likely to slide easily on the underlying crust where it was redistributed into thicker wind slabs. Search for textured or smoothed, pillowed surfaces to visually identify slabs. They frequently form along the sides of ridges, in gullies, and around features like steep rollovers or rocky outcroppings. In these wind-loaded areas where snow depths over the crust are getting close to 6 inches, expect that you can trigger an avalanche.
Steer around these locations on steep slopes, or expect that you'll be triggering small avalanches if you venture there. We expect you'll find thicker, more wind-affected slabs as you climb higher. They may also be limited to areas further north in the zone.
Forecast Discussion
If several inches of non-wind-affected snow are present, you could probably initiate small loose dry avalanches on steep slopes as well. We're in a period of fickle spring weather right now, with intense bursts of precipitation like what we saw on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday, we expect mainly sunny skies. Temperatures will stay cool, but you can expect rollerballs and small wet loose avalanches in the new snow running down on any steep slopes within minutes of the sun hitting them.
Warm temperatures resulted in wet loose avalanche activity at the end of last week, and now crusts exist on all aspects under the new snow, except maybe due north upper elevation slopes. These crusts could be variable and punchy underfoot. There will be frozen debris piles from the wet loose avalanches, and there are also plenty of exposed hazards all the way up through mid elevations, thanks to our thin snow cover this year.
This information is provided by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and describes general backcountry avalanche hazard and conditions.
It does not apply to ski areas and highways where avalanche mitigation is conducted.