Lawinenlagebericht

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

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

Kernpunkte

You could easily trigger avalanches in new snow as a storm favoring the southern and eastern Cascades impacts the zone on Thursday night and Friday. Expect to find slabs of snow that slide easily on underlying crusts or within the new snow. Keep your slope angles low, and select simple, conservative terrain on Friday. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Storm Slabs

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

    The stormy weather pattern continues, and another round of snow and wind is in the forecast for Thursday night. The East South zone could receive 8 to 10 inches of new snow. Warming temperatures on Friday morning could produce an upside-down snowpack with warmer, heavier snow over colder, lighter snow. This warming trend will likely create sensitive storm slabs at all elevations and aspects. Winds could drift snow into deeper slabs at higher elevations, resulting in larger and more dangerous avalanches. It may be a wet, warm storm day out there, and on these types of days, it is best to stick to low angle and sheltered terrain. Let the snowpack settle and adjust to the new load before committing to steep slopes and watch for signs of unstable snow, such as recent avalanches, shooting cracks, or collapsing. You can also jump or ride over small but steep terrain features to see how the new snow reacts.

    (12/21/2022)

    Example of shooting cracks through new snow on a sensitive new storm interface. 

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

On Thursday, an NWAC forecaster got out near the northwestern border of the East South zone. The snowpack below 5000ft has certainly taken a beating from the warm, wet weather over the last week. Creeks have blown out, holes have opened up, and the Christmas crust is beginning to break down within the thin saturated snowpack. This new snow will hopefully be a welcome return to winter, but it may also cover up recently exposed obstacles, so travel cautiously at these lower elevations. Not to jinx it, but these lower elevations may also change to rain at some point on Friday. We do not expect much more precipitation after temperatures warm, but there is potential for some small wet loose avalanches to occur. Look for signs of rollerballs or wet, heavy snow to indicate that wet loose avalanches are possible.

Areas just west of the crest, such as Crystal Mountain, have experienced some very large wet avalanches that failed on an old layer of weak faceted snow (11/22) buried 4-5ft deep. Liquid water is still draining from the snowpack where significant rain fell on the formerly dry snow. While unlikely, large triggers such as a cornice fall or snowmobiles could trigger one of these avalanches. If you are traveling near the Cascade Crest and find yourself sinking deeply into wet, heavy snow or find large wet snow grains in the snowpack, there may be an increased likelihood of triggering one of these large slides. 

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

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