Lawinenlagebericht

Stevens Pass

Northwest Avalanche Center
Auf der Karte ansehen

Lawinengefahr

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

Kernpunkte

By Tuesday afternoon, you may be able to trigger small avalanches in the new snow on a variety of steep slopes. Avalanches could be large where the wind drifts thicker slabs at upper elevations. Rain and freezing rain will bring a dramatic spike in avalanche danger Tuesday night. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Storm Slabs

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

    On Tuesday, just enough snow will accumulate with warming temperatures to create storm slab conditions. By afternoon, you may be able to trigger small avalanches on slopes steepr than 35 degrees. If you find temperatures aproaching freezing with wetter precipitation or rain, expect even more dangerous avalanche conditions.

    If you see shooting cracks or snow that slides easily in quick tests (see video), stick to lower-angle slopes and avoid steep, convex features. Use extra caution on leeward sides of ridges. Wind on the 14-15th drifted stiff slabs, especially at upper elevations. You may still be able to trigger avalanches in these wind drifted slabs. 

Avalanche Discussion

On Tuesday, you can expect another 5 inches of snow to add to 13-20 inches of recent snow that fell earlier this week. We anticipate very dangerous conditions developing Tuesday night. While there's a lot of uncertainty about the weather forecast, we expect an intense, warm pulse of precipitation overnight. If significant rain enters the snowpack, we could see many large wet avalanches. We anticipate that the danger will subside on Wednesday, but it's a bit soon to say. If the warming comes earlier than anticipated, avalanche danger may become more elevated late in the day on Tuesday. Watch for rain, and above freezing temperatures, and weak, wet snow to tell you to avoid avalanche terrain. 

Over the weekend, backcountry observers and the Stevens Pass Patrol reported tiggering numerous wind slab avalanches. Most avalanches were small, but some were large enough to bury a person in steep, wind-loaded areas. 

The 12/7 melt-freeze crust is now buried 2-3 feet deep, and observations throughout the zone have shown a favorable bond with this layer. However, with enough rain and liquid water in the snowpack, wet avalanches could potentially run that deep. Travel below 4000ft is still challenging with very low snow cover and it gets worse further east in the zone. 

If you get out in the backcountry, please consider submitting an observation and help shape the avalanche forecast. 

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