Lawinenlagebericht

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

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

The rain is ending, and natural avalanches are becoming less likely, but wet snow could continue to shed from very steep and rocky slopes. During conditions like this, it's simply about managing your exposure to the hazard. Pay attention to what’s above you and don’t linger under hanging snowy slopes.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wet Slabs

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

    It's been a nasty, warm, and rainy week. Fortunately, temperatures are cooling, and the precipitation is ending. However, wet avalanche concerns won’t stop on a dime. It takes time for water to work its way through the snowpack. Until the water drains or freezes, rogue natural wet avalanches will continue to be a concern. 

    These aren’t the type of avalanches you normally trigger, and you can’t make an easy observation to determine if it’s “safe.” The only tool in our tool belt is avoiding the slopes where they might release. It’s not a “stay away at all costs” moment, but you certainly don’t want to be around if one of these avalanches occurs. Identify snow covered rocky terrain and steep slopes with crevasse-like cracks, then move quickly below these areas and regroup in spots with less overhead hazard. 

    Clear skies and cooler temperatures could help the surface freeze Friday night. This won’t have much bearing on the wet slab/glide avalanche issue. However, it should limit any wet loose slides. During the day, sunshine could weaken the snow on very steep southerly slopes. You may be able to trigger a push-o-lanche if you try hard or travel in warm, rocky, sunny, terrain.

    (4/10/2025)

    This shed avalanche was about 24 hrs old. Not only did nearly all of the snow shed from the rocky face, it entrained all the recent snow on the slopes below. N, 4800ft. 

    Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

There’s good news and bad news. The good news is the rain is over (at least for now), temperatures are cooling, and the avalanche danger is dropping. The bad news is it rained near or above the highest peaks for the last several days, and as temperatures drop, the precipitation generally turns off. There could be a dusting of new snow, but it probably won’t help travel conditions. 

There’s quite an E-W difference in the zone from these recent storms. Precipitation totals range from 3-4 inches near the crest, to less than a 1/4 inch in the Wenatchees. Even where it didn’t rain as much, wind combined with warm temperatures to eat the snowpack. All locations saw a significant loss of snow depth. 

The surface could begin to freeze Friday night. How firm and thick the new crust becomes will depend on a variety of factors and may change slope to slope. You could encounter wet punchy snow, breakable crusts, and firm surfaces. After the rain and warm weather, the surface is irregular and littered with tree debris. Honestly, travel conditions could be the greatest challenge you face on Saturday. 

What does the upper snowpack look like now? Good question. Close to the crest, the snowpack is likely various layers of spring-like (melt form) snow. A dryer snowpack could linger further east. This includes the chance for a few persistent weak layers to hang on, particularly at higher elevations. 

No surprise, this didn’t help coverage. Raging creeks, random holes, extensive bare ground, and plenty of obstacles make even common travel routes longer and more challenging. 

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