Lawinenlagebericht

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Tue
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
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Kernpunkte

The snowpack is undergoing a transition period with rain up to 6,000ft. Wet avalanches may run naturally and could be large and destructive. Way up above the rain line, storm snow is piling up, and wind slabs well over 2ft deep are a major concern. If you head into the mountains, stay off steep slopes and watch the runout zones.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Loose Wet

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1.5–3

    Wet snow avalanches of all types could run naturally overnight and on Monday. With the snowpack becoming saturated up to 6,000ft, heavy, wet slides could churn downhill on long steep slopes. Slides could begin to gouge deeper into the snowpack as rain continues to weaken old layers. Rollerballs and fresh chunky avalanches will be good indicators of these dangerous conditions. Wet slabs and glide slabs may release naturally in isolated locations. With any of these, you wouldn't want to be underneath them.

    With all of the above, the travel advice is clear- stay off of steep slopes on Monday while the snowpack undergoes a transition period. Stay out from underneath large steep slopes as slides could pile up deeply into mid elevation gullies.

    (4/9/2023)

    Large glide avalanche and dirty wet debris off a rock in Tumwater Canyon.

    Photo: Matt Primomo

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Way up above 6,000ft or so the snow is drier, and moderate to strong winds have been blowing from the SW for a couple of days. You could find deep storm snow, and even deeper wind slabs. A layer of buried surface hoar in select locations could create very large and surprising avalanches, so Monday is not the day to 'chance it' on steep NW-SE facing slopes in the alpine.

    (4/8/2023)

    Slab triggered by a cornice fall that ran on a surface hoar layer from the end of March.

    Photo: Mission Ridge Ski Patrol

Avalanche Discussion

We should continue to get moderate rain to higher elevations through the day on Monday. A round of natural avalanches could occur overnight and may continue during the day. These should be limited to the mid and upper elevations, but in areas near the south and west portion of the zone, they could run below treeline as well. In most areas, the snowpack at lower elevations is well on its way to melting out, but higher up it's a different story. Check out some nice photos of nasty wet slides in the zone from Katie on Sunday.

Above 6,000ft, you could find up to 2ft or more of recent storm snow since early April. Most aspects hold a crust of sorts beneath the recent storm layer, but on high north and east aspects there could be a thin layer of surface hoar from the end of March. On both Saturday and Sunday, Mission Ridge Ski Patrol reported sensitive large cornices from their ridgeline. Some of these triggered slabs that stepped down up to 2ft deep on this layer (see photos below).

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