Lawinenlagebericht

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

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

Kernpunkte

Temperatures cooled, and snow returned to our mountains at mid and upper elevations. Moderate winds may form shallow slabs of snow near ridges where you could trigger an avalanche. Look for blowing snow and pillowlike drifts to identify wind-loaded areas to steer around in steep terrain. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1

    It's finally time to turn your attention back to dry avalanche problems. We are excited to see some snow in the forecast, even if it's just a few inches for the east slopes of the Cascades. However, the winds may quickly drift this snow into small, unstable wind slabs where you could trigger an avalanche. While most of these avalanches likely won't be large, a puget sound convergence zone may bring higher snow totals to Salmon La Sac, and avalanches in this area could be larger.  But don't be caught off guard in steep, consequential terrain where even a small avalanche could have high consequences. A fall or being carried in an avalanche could be a rough ride over exposed rocks and other hazards.Look for drifts and cornice formations to point you toward wind-loaded areas. If you observe shooting cracks or the snow feels stiff and hollow, simply steer around steep terrain to avoid triggering a wind slab. Even a small avalanche could be a rough ride over exposed rocks and other hazards. 

    (4/8/2023)

    Here is an example of a small wind slab that you may encounter on Friday. Notice the cornices pointing to the direction of wind-loaded slopes. 

    Photo: Mission Ridge Ski Patrol

Avalanche Discussion

The snowpack recently underwent a massive transition. One week ago, we received 1-2ft of snow over a very weak snowpack, and there was a widespread natural dry avalanche cycle. After the snow came the rain, so much rain! Mission Ridge received around 1.5" of water and Salmon La Sac a whopping 5" of water. The rain resulted in flooding, a saturated snowpack, and a widespread wet avalanche cycle. Many areas lost over 50% of their snowpack, and lower elevations have a lot of exposed bare ground. While we don't know the full impacts on the snowpack, especially at upper elevations, there's a good chance that the November weak layers have changed to meltforms on most slopes.

Now that temperatures have cooled and there are a few inches of new snow, we can begin to rebuild our snowpack. We still have minimal information from the upper elevations, so if you venture high into the mountains, be prepared to assess the snowpack conditions you travel. Step into larger terrain slowly and look for red flag signs of instability, such as blowing snow, collapses, or shooting cracks. The sun may also come out tomorrow, and while it's not very strong this time of the year, you may see a few roller balls on steep, sunny terrain. 

Depending on where you go, the chance to hit buried rocks, logs, and other obstacles may still prove a significant hazard. The refrozen snowpack may also make travel challenging, so ensure you have suitable equipment, such as scratchers on your snowmobile, crampons, or ice axes to travel on steep icy slopes.

You can add to the forecast! Please let us know what you see in the mountains by submitting an observation.

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