Lawinenlagebericht

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Fri
Hochgebirge
1 · Gering
Waldgrenze
1 · Gering
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Kernpunkte

With the dribble of new snow accumulations, look out for small slabs of wind drifted snow just below exposed ridgelines in terrain near the Cascade Crest. Elsewhere, unreactive older slabs may linger in extreme terrain. Any avalanche will be small, not likely to bury you, but consider the consequences of being carried downhill in any terrain you choose.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1–1.5

    It will be possible to trigger wind slabs in isolated areas immediately adjacent to the Cascade Crest, namely the Salmon La Sac. Although small, slabs could be actively growing deeper in the La Sac if new snow and wind clip the area. Throughout the rest of the zone, triggering small, older slabs is unlikely.

    If the wind blows strongly enough, you can use blowing snow as a sign that slabs are being built in lee terrain. More reliable clues to look out for are fresh, soft cornice or drift formation, textured surfaces, and shooting cracks in new slabs. While unlikely to bury you, consider the consequences of being carried downslope with all of the hazards still exposed in terrain right now.

    There are widespread buried weak layers within the snowpack that could be finally overloaded by slabs building on top. It's worth a minute of your time to dig small hand pits and check the bond between interfaces. A wind slab failing on one of these layers has the potential to propagate more widely than expected.

    (1/5/2026)

    Cracking in small amounts of wind loaded snow was observed in the Salmon La Sac earlier this season. You might see similar conditions on Thursday.

    Photo: Payton Schiff

Avalanche Discussion

There's a decent chance very small, fresh slabs formed in the zone on Wednesday, although we lack any on the ground data to confirm or deny. It ended up windier than forecasted, and areas right along the Cascade Crest picked up yet another small amount of new snow. If some fickle weather station data is to be believed, the Salmon La Sac gained 1-3 inches. All of this new and recent snow is low-density and therefore easily transportable. It can currently be found zone wide.

On Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon, there is a chance that a southeast storm track could clip the southern edge of the East Central zone. If that happens, Mission Ridge, the Salmon La Sac, and possibly the Teanaway could pick up another couple of inches. And although the wind forecast is light, east flow usually carries the potential for periods of moderate to strong wind, particularly at ridgeline. Keep this in mind if you plan to travel around these areas.

Buried surface hoar has been observed in this zone and is likely now buried around 4 inches deep near the Crest, but is probably deeper in wind loaded spots. It was found 8-9 inches deep around Mission Ridge on Monday, which has benefited from these easterly storm patterns. Another 4 inches below that, there is a complex crust/facet sandwich. So far, all this new snow has fallen too incrementally and lacks the cohesion for these layers to become problematic. It's a bit of a waiting game to see if each additional inch will be enough to finally tip the scales. Buried surface hoar will show up as a "dull grey line" in the uppermost portion of the snowpack. Faceted snow is often characterized as "loose and sugary," and you'll probably find it just underneath a harder crust. Let us know what you're finding by submitting an observation to the website or AvyApp.

This return to winter is slowly improving travel conditions, but you'll still find very low snow coverage at lower elevations, and in the Wenatchees at all elevations. Give yourself some extra time and precaution to manage these exposed hazards, and know that some may be obscured by new snow.

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