Lawinenlagebericht

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

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

Kernpunkte

Changing weather conditions will bring changing avalanche conditions. You may be able to trigger wet avalanches on steep slopes at the start of the day, however, you may want to start thinking about wind slabs forming at higher elevations as rain transitions over to snow. Overlapping avalanche problems and changing weather conditions, should help keep your terrain selection simple.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wet Slabs

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

    Monday evening into Tuesday may bring up to another inch of water to the East-South zone. This rain will continue to destabilize the snowpack and maintain the wet snow avalanche hazard.  We likely saw a natural avalanche cycle 4 days ago when rain was initially introduced to a dry snowpack, however, any steep slopes should still be considered suspect with this amount of rain on snow.  Continue to avoid travel in areas where avalanches can start, run, or come to a stop. 

    You should also watch out for other wet avalanche problem types, such as wet loose avalanches in steep terrain.  These slides are often less destructive, but can still create trouble in the wrong terrain.  

     

    (12/23/2022)

    You may be able to still trigger wet slabs like this on Tuesday.

     

    Photo: NPS Rainier Rangers

  • Wind Slabs

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

    There is some uncertainty about  how much new snow will start accumulating as snow levels drop on Tuesday.  Once snow starts falling it will be joined by strong SW winds.  These winds will redistribute this new snow and create shallow wind slabs on the lee sides of ridges and in the alpine.  If you start seeing new snow accumulating-look for where the wind is blowing the new snow-and avoid similar slopes greater than 35 degrees. If you see blowing snow, cornices developing, or observe cracking in the new snow-  assume wind slabs are forming near-by. 

     

    (12/14/2022)

    Blowing snow is a great way to anticipate where wind slabs are living. 

    Photo: Willie Webster

Avalanche Discussion

The Crystal Mtn Pro Patrol in the nearby West-South zone, triggered  large wet avalanches with exposives on Monday. These avalanches failed 3-5' deep (likely on old snow from November)  and propagated widely.  If you travel on western parts of the zone, you will likely find a very wet snowpack and you should consider what an additional 1 inch of water may do to the overall snowpack structure. It might just take a failing cornice or a human-trigger to cause an avalanche of similar size. 

Active weather will continue on Tuesday with strong southwest winds and unfortunately more precipitation in-form of rain.  That said, snow levels are forecasted to slowly drop throughout the day, so this should help the rain transition over to snow for higher elevations.  The question will be, how much new snow? 

This complicated weather forecast makes for a complicated avalanche forecast.  Tuesday will certainly bring a wet snow avalanche hazard since we already have a wet snowpack and more rain in the forecast, however, you may want to consider talking about dry snow avalanches as new snow piles up.  As the weather changes, so should your mindset.  If you do venture out into the winds on Tuesday, it will be a good day to be on your game and watch for changing conditions, and adjust your tour plans accordingly as the weather changes. 

If you get out into the mountains, let us know what you see by submitting a public observation!

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