East Slopes South

Avalanches are unlikely, but difficult travel and other hazards exist. Use caution to avoid falls on steep icy terrain and expect low snow coverage on southern aspects below treeline.

Wednesday will likely be a mild day in the East South zone, however, expect significantly warmer temperatures by the evening. A frozen surface crust combined with recent avalanches cycles from early January gives us confidence that the snowpack has become generally stable. The upper snowpack contains alternating layers of firm crusts, weak wet snow, and strong rounded grains. But the warming temperatures may break down surface crusts, and small wet loose avalanches may become a concern in steep terrain at upper elevations. It is probably best to avoid steep terrain if you are sinking into wet, saturated snow past your ankles. You can also expect challenging travel conditions, including low snow coverage and various icy surfaces with both supportable and breakable crusts.

Clouds will begin to roll in Wednesday afternoon, bringing warming temperatures, rain, and high elevation snow on Wednesday night into Thursday. With high freezing temperatures and light precipitation, this storm probably won't significantly improve the current conditions. However, it may just be enough to freshen the surfaces at the highest elevations and potentially build some small wind slabs on lee aspects. At lower elevations, this precipitation will likely fall as rain. If you get out, be sure to let us know what you find, and share reports of surface conditions ahead of this next round of snow. 

The snowpack experienced a significant and prolonged thaw MLK weekend, with a stretch of sunny skies and spring-like weather. Remote weather stations around the East South recorded above freezing temperatures for the past 3-4 days, and high temperatures even hit 51F on Saturday at the Green Lake SNOTEL (5920ft). The most notable effect of the warm-up was the decrease in snow height and snow cover on sun-exposed slopes and at low elevations. Check out the NWAC forecaster field report from Bootjack Rock for more details on conditions from Monday.