Lawinenlagebericht

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Sat
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 2 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Keep your terrain choices conservative and avoid big, steep slopes. The snowpack needs time to adjust to the many feet of snow that fell in the last week. Deep snow immersion is a real hazard. Travel with a partner and keep them in sight at all times.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Storm Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1.5–2.5

    You can run across three varieties of new snow avalanches on Friday. 

    More snowfall, lots of light, dry snow on the ground, and periods of stronger wind will create another round of slabs.  While more likely in wind-loaded terrain, be ready to trigger one on any steep slope. You can identify and asses these by tracking areas of stiffer or deeper snow, slope cuts and hand shears.  Where there isn’t much of a slab at the surface, expect to trigger dry loose avalanches if you start pushing snow around in steep terrain. 

    The final issue is simply how much new snow is out there. Given the amount - 4’ or more in some areas - it seems safe to assume that any slope holding persistent or other weak layers slid during the storm. On the other hand we don’t really know what happened out there until we can see. Did most slopes release naturally? Or are there a bunch that need just a bit more snow and wind loading to tip the scale? Maybe you could even trigger a deep one where the snowpack is shallower? Hard sayin’ not knowin’ or something like that. The mountains need time to adjust to all the new snow. 

    (2/29/2024)

    Natural slab avalanche on the east aspect of Herman/West North at 4600'. Visible on the shallow ridge in the middle of the photo, just left of center.

    (HS-N-D2-U)

    Photo: Julz Holder - Grounding Truth

Avalanche Discussion

Look for sun breaks and periods of warming between snow showers over the next few days. The March sun is strong and can quickly warm up the snow surface despite cold temperatures. Look for rollerballs and small loose snow avalanches if the sun is out. Warming can also form a reactive slab from loose dry snow at the surface.

If you haven’t been to the mountains in the last week, prepare for a different landscape. That last few storms added 3-4’ of new snow in many areas and doubled the amount of snow on the ground in select locations. White Chuck picked up 28” of additional snow since Monday with about 50” total since the 24th. In neighboring zones . . . West North saw continued snowfall and cold temperatures on Thursday, while the Passes saw less snow, warmer temperatures, and even some sunshine.

The most avalanche activity was reported from West North, where control work at Mount Baker Ski Area produced numerous slab avalanches to D2 and larger. Backcountry travelers triggered dry loose avalanches that pulled out the top 8” of light-density new snow. A large natural avalanche with a 3-5’ deep crown was observed on a wind-loaded slope in the Baker BC. Observers in Snoqualmie and Stevens reported numerous but generally smaller natural avalanches and the beginnings of wet loose avalanches related to sun and warming.

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