Lawinenlagebericht

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Sun
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
3 · Erheblich
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Kernpunkte

This won't be your typical spring day. Hot temperatures and a weak snowpack will create dangerous avalanche conditions through the weekend. Give all large slopes greater than 30 degrees a wide buffer to avoid being hit by a large, unpredictable wet avalanche. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wet Slabs

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

    We have all the key ingredients for large wet slabs to occur. Large wet slab avalanches will become possible as meltwater moves into the snowpack. These wet avalanches could be 2-4 ft deep and break surprisingly wide - easily being large enough to kill you. Wet avalanches do not need human triggers to occur; they release on their own far more frequently than dry avalanches. Wet loose slides make great triggers for slab avalanches.   

    How do we manage this problem? Avoidance is really the only reliable strategy. Stay out of harm's way by avoiding travel on and under all large slopes greater than 30 degrees, especially during the heat of the day. 

    Heat and sunshine will weaken cornices. Give these overhanging chunks some space. They could trigger wet loose or slab avalanches.

    (12/17/2023)

    Wet slabs can pack a punch. Give these unpredictable time bombs a wide buffer. 

    Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

The shed cycle has commenced across the East South mountains. We're heading into a dangerous weekend as we see the warmest temperatures we have seen all season. What's scary is that prior to this warm-up, we had a persistent slab problem present. In the neighboring East Central, we saw multiple, large human-triggered persistent slab releases last week. Continued warming certainly won't help matters. This warm up will be an excellent reason to dial back your terrain selection. Instead seek out sunny ridgelines or flat meadows far away from large avalanche paths.  

The Cascades are heading into a stretch of very warm sunny weather. It will be the first big, spring-like warming event of the year, with high temperatures in the 50's and freezing levels over 10,000'. Very warm conditions through the weekend could produce significant slab and loose snow avalanches. 

As with any warming event, there is a high level of uncertainty as to where, when, or even if this scale of avalanche activity will occur. On the other hand, big natural avalanches aren't really the kinds of things that should be taken lightly. It's worth noting that smaller wet loose or wind slab avalanches, cornice falls, or snow shedding from cliffs can provide the trigger needed to pull out a very large avalanche. When planning for the weekend, consider that this is one of the times when an 'improbable' avalanche might actually occur.

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