Lawinenlagebericht

Blues

Wallowa Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

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

Kernpunkte

 As the sun shines between cloud breaks and the temperatures warm small wet avalanches may become more likely.   Avoid steep slopes where the snow is becoming wet and heavy.   Lingering pockets of sensitive wind-drifted snow could be present along the highest ridgelines.  Avoid slopes below corniced ridgelines.  

This forecast is sponsored by La Grande Sno-Drifters Snowmobile Club. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Isolated pockets of lingering wind slabs could be present along exposed Northerly-facing ridgelines.  Look for signs of wind-blown snow such as dune-like features, stiff or rippled snow, and snow cracking around your skis or machine.  The wind slabs that were built on Wednesday may be covered by fresh snow and may be harder to identify.  Avoid slopes directly under corniced ridgelines to avoid wind slab avalanches.  

    (3/27/2024)

    The start of the wind loading process.  

    Photo: Caleb Merrill

  • Loose Wet

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

    We are in the swing of spring and when the sun shines between cloud breaks today, it has a strong influence on the new snow we've received since Monday.  Combined with warming temperatures throughout the day, it will warm the new surface snow and could create small wet loose avalanches this afternoon.  Look for signs of wet loose avalanches such as roller balls and pinwheels releasing naturally from rocky areas on solar aspects.  As the snow becomes wet and heavy under your skis or machine, move to lower-angle terrain or shadier aspects.  While you can expect these loose wet avalanches to stay small today, they can have quite a bit of force and could easily knock you off your feet and push you over cliffs or into a terrain trap such as a gully or bench.  

    (3/15/2024)

    Roller Balls are a classic sign of warming snow.  Wet loose avalanches often follow.  

    Photo: Caleb Merrill

Avalanche Discussion

The Blues have seen warmer temperatures than our other forecast zones through this storm.  Higher snow levels and mid-storm temperature bumps have brought mixed precipitation since Monday.   The mid-month warmup took its toll on the snowpack in the Blues with many slopes on the southern half of the compass seeing significant snow melt.  The new snow will have shallowly buried many obstacles and you should use care when riding in thin areas.  

Continue to dig down into the snowpack to see how wet the middle of the snowpack is.  Uncertainty exists as to how well the midpack "locked up" in the last week, and an avalanche failing in the new snow could potentially dig down into a wet saturated snowpack creating a larger more destructive wet avalanche.  

Observations have been sparse in the Blues.  If you get out, let us know what you are seeing by submitting an observation here.  

No danger rating has been issued for the lowest elevation band in the Blues (3000'-4000') due to the lack of snow in that zone. If we receive significant low elevation snow we will begin forecasting for that zone again.

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