Lawinenlagebericht

Snoqualmie Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

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

An incoming storm should deliver a few inches of snow to Snoqualmie Pass on Friday. As you ascend in elevation, you could encounter wind-loaded features where you’re more likely to trigger an avalanche. Look for actively blowing snow and smooth pillow-like drifts to help you recognize areas to dodge.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

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

    You may see shallow Wind Slabs start to develop as snow showers and breezy conditions return to the zone on Friday. Look for actively blowing snow or new drifts to help distinguish aspects that may be getting wind-loaded. Once you have the direction figured out, you can start to locate specific features such as convex slopes or confined gullies that could be harboring Wind Slabs. Textured surfaces or snow that feels stiffer than the surrounding area and looks more “pillow-like” are visual clues you can use to help determine that a feature is indeed wind-loaded. Once you go through the steps and identify a potential Wind Slab, you’ll be able to easily avoid it. 

    (2/16/2023)

    A very deep avalanche crown near the top of Bryant Peak. This avalanche failed in a wind-loaded spot on 2/13 during the height of a storm. [N 5500']

    Photo: Public Observation

Avalanche Discussion

The Pass could pick up a couple of inches of snow on Friday as a quick front moves through the region. While snow totals aren’t impressive compared to recent storms, a nice refresh and a little wind should be enough to have you thinking about small avalanches as you ascend in elevation.

Any new snow will be falling on a variety of surfaces around the zone. On slopes that see direct sunshine, a sun crust exists due to recent sunny weather and could become a good sliding surface. On shadier slopes, cold dry snow is present. In some locations, it is capped by weak surface hoar. We suspect most of these weak grains got knocked down by the relatively warm weather on Thursday and that the wind will take care of the rest. That said, don’t rule out a few touchy avalanches on Friday if it persists and gets buried. 

No new avalanches were reported on Thursday but we had plenty earlier this week, including one very large avalanche on Bryant Peak. This is the second time the same spot has avalanched in the last week, possibly adding to the surprising depth of the crown. Apart from this eye-popper, other large slab avalanches occurred on Monday during the height of a storm. In the days that followed smaller loose avalanches failed with the help of solar input. We suspect any avalanche on Friday will occur within the 1-1.5 feet of snow that fell this week, creating the 2/13 interface. The majority should be in Friday's newly fallen snow but we won’t rule out something a little deeper down to this layer. 

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