Lawinenlagebericht

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Mon
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
2 · Mässig
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 4 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Remain wary of triggering avalanches that are large enough to kill you on Sunday. Steer around steep slopes, especially as you approach upper elevations. This is not your usual Cascades post-storm day, and avalanche danger remains elevated as the snowpack adjusts to the recent storm. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Storm Slabs

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

    Your weight on a slope can trigger a large, unsurvivable avalanche on Sunday, especially as you gain elevation. Around a foot of snow fell in the last 48 hours, and it still needs time to adjust before you step out on steep slopes. The storm came in with cooler temperatures before ending warmer, and this made the snow "upside down", where heavier snow sits over lighter snow due to the temperature differences.  

    These weak snow indicators aren't going to go away overnight. Natural avalanches are expected to decrease in likelihood, although they remain possible. A human-triggered avalanche is still likely. Any steep slope where this new snow layer sits thickly upon it is suspect. In locations where wind drifted the snow even deeper you can expect it to be even easier to trigger an avalanche.  With these concerns, steer around slopes steeper than 30 degrees on Sunday. 

    A storm slab avalanche similar to one you might trigger on Sunday. 

Avalanche Discussion

Sluffs, or small loose dry avalanches might happen naturally or with a human trigger in steep areas where low density snow exists. We may see some sun later in the day, and freezing levels will rise a little higher than the previous day.  We don't expect it to get warm enough for snow surfaces to moisten and small wet loose avalanches to occur, but keep it in mind as the day progresses. 

Several nearby zones have found buried surface hoar, which was buried about a foot deep before this new snow fell. In the West North zone we received THIS observation on Friday, where a small (D1) avalanche was triggered in an open meadow below treeline. They found feathery crystals, which were likely surface hoar, below the 40cm thick slab. Although it's been found in a number of zones, very few avalanches have been reported as failing on it thus far. With additional load more avalanches could start occurring.

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