Lawinenlagebericht

Olympics

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

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

Warm, stormy weather could result in small wet avalanche particularly higher in the terrain. Don’t let one of these slides push you over a cliff or flush you down a narrow chute. Despite the date on the calendar, snowpacks are painfully thin, and slopes are full of obstacles.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Loose Wet

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

    This problem is most likely where a few inches of wet heavy snow manage to accumulate. That might be only near the tops of the higher peaks (or even above our forecast elevations). In these spots, kicking off rollerballs or other small point release slides will be your obvious clue that avalanches could occur in similar steep terrain. 

    Below the rain-snow line, the snowpack is pretty beat up from several very warm days and previous rain events. This bit of water likely won’t make much difference. The biggest worry here is an isolated blob of snow finally releasing off a rocky face or triggering wet snow in extreme terrain. That is, if there’s anything left in the rocks to fall down. Pay attention in and below craggy areas, especially once the rain starts to become heavier.

    We don't have any recent information on glide avalanches or if glide cracks have opened up or grown (recent glide crack in the gallery).  During extended warm-ups, these avalanches can release at any time as water percolates down - do not linger below them.  

    (1/25/2024)

    Example: Rollerballs and small wet loose slides in new wet heavy snow

    Photo: Kaitlin Harrigan

Avalanche Discussion

Well, the weather is finally changing, but maybe not in the way we all hoped. The Olympics are in for a warm and wet day of rain and high elevation snow on Saturday. Locations in the western portion of the range could see very stormy conditions with heavy precipitation. 

Normally, we think about rain on snow as a bad thing for stability. While it probably won’t help the snowpack on Saturday, it probably won’t hurt it much either. Weeks of warm weather and rain last weekend likely created a snowpack structure that should handle the water

This comes after an unseasonably warm week. On Friday, temperatures ‘cooled’ to the upper 40s and low 50s. The Hurricane Ridge weather station hasn’t dipped below freezing since Feb 2nd. Not surprisingly, the snowpack is thin. How thin? About 30% of average through most of the range. 

You really can’t overstate all the travel challenges. Bare ground, punchy snow, open creeks, random holes, exposed rocks, grabby bushes, numerous tiny trees, and downed logs mean it takes much longer than normal to move around the mountains. In fact, travel hazards likely far outweigh avalanche concerns in many areas. Give yourself some extra time to deal with these ‘early season’ conditions.

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