Lawinenlagebericht

West Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
Auf der Karte ansehen

Lawinengefahr

Wed
Hochgebirge
2 · Mässig
Waldgrenze
2 · Mässig
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
Open full map
Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 7 months ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Your chances of triggering an avalanche will increase as the day heats up, and snow surfaces become wet and heavy. Use small point releases, sticky surface snow, and rising temperatures as signals to move to shadier, lower-angle slopes. In areas that experienced rain on Monday, larger wet avalanches are also possible.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Loose Wet

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1–2

    Sunshine, and continued warming, will increase the likelihood of loose wet avalanches on Tuesday. Snow surfaces are likely to start out mushy and soft first thing in the morning, becoming progressively worse as temperatures rise, and direct sunlight hits the snow. Watch for warning signs of wet instability, including heavy, sticky surface snow, fresh roller balls, snow clinging to your skins or sled track, and natural point-release avalanche activity. Use these clues as your canary in the coal mine, once you see them, move to lower angle terrain. 

    Areas that received rain on Monday may see larger wet avalanche activity, even on slopes shaded from the sun. Rain runnels or surface dimples are key indicators of free water in the snow. In these areas, consider avoiding steep slopes with heavy, wet snow altogether. Snow shedding on top of you from trees or rocky slopes could also do harm.

    (1/3/2026)

    Runnels, like these, indicate rain affected the snowpack in this area. 

    Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

Monday brought varying showers across the West South zone, with most of the rain focused on the Paradise area, picking up almost half an inch of water. Most other areas saw closer to a tenth of an inch. Temperatures continued to climb, bringing even the uppermost elevations of the zone above freezing. Minimal wet avalanche activity has been reported, but fresh roller balls were abundant, gouging deeper into the surface snow as the day went on.

A few large slab avalanches were spotted on the north side of Castle Peak in the Tatoosh Range on Sunday. Initial thoughts are that these were wind slabs, triggered by warming or rain-on-snow. Slabs like these are a good example of the uncertainty associated with rain and wet avalanche activity. Areas around Paradise have seen nearly an inch of rain in the last 48 hours. As warming continues, old isolated wind slabs may still exist at upper elevations, and may even show reactivity as the snowpack transitions to warmer weather.

As warming and drying continue into Tuesday and later in the week, attention will need to shift to wet snow avalanche hazards.

Abgedeckte Regionen