Lawinenlagebericht

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Fri
Hochgebirge
2 · Mässig
Waldgrenze
2 · Mässig
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Kernpunkte

Avalanche activity is slowing as temperatures cool, but if you're caught in an avalanche it will likely be unsurvivable. Any remaining glide cracks and sagging cornices should still be treated with caution, so avoid or travel very quickly on slopes beneath them if you must. A few inches of snow will arrive by Thursday evening, which shouldn't be enough to change the avalanche danger. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Glide Cracks

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

    The rapid warming produced wet loose avalanches, a few wet slabs, and then some glide avalanches and cornice failures with subsequent avalanches. Large rollerballs and continued wet loose activity was reported in the West Central zone on Sunday. Monday was the last time neighboring zones reported any springlike avalanche activity, although we suspect more avalanches have happened that we just don't know about. 

    Tuesday night, despite increasing cloud cover and humidity, temperatures dropped and surface crusts formed. As water movement in the snowpack slows and temperatures cool, the likelihood of any of these springlike avalanche problems is trending towards unlikely. Glide avalanches are known to fail up to a few days after a warming event, so continue to avoid terrain beneath large glide cracks, or travel through the area quickly. The same goes for large, saggy cornices. 

    Lower elevations are already so impacted by melting and have likely already fully run their course with wet snow avalanche problems. 

    Example photo of a large, gaping glide crack. I wouldn't travel anywhere beneath this crack.  Photo: Will Govus

Avalanche Discussion

About three inches of snow is in the forecast for Wednesday night through Thursday. We don't expect there will be enough to change the avalanche danger. Nevertheless, search for newly deposited wind drifts as the few-inch-thick slabs could crack and run on the old snow surface in steep areas.

Steep upper-elevation northerly slopes may have withstood the heat wave and you could still find consolidated dry snow there. If you find dry patches, consider that recently wind-drifted deposits have a small chance of avalanching with a human trigger. Even if the avalanche is small, if there's a cliff, trees, or rocks below you it could still kill you. 

In most areas, you'll probably find a surface crust of varying thickness, possibly coated by a bit of new snow. Wednesday night's snowline is 4000ft, so beneath that elevation just a little rain will impact the already thoroughly wetted and slightly refrozen snowpack.  A little surface softening might happen during the day on Thursday. 

If you get out, please share your observations with us and the local backcountry community. This is even more valuable now that we're getting into the spring and folks are making their way to more distant objectives in the longer daylight hours. Sharing details from areas that are less frequently traveled is so beneficial to the community and the forecast for the zone. 

 

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