West Slopes South

A generally strong upper snowpack should help to minimize avalanche potential on Wednesday. Keep an eye on the snow surface to help you determine if avalanches are becoming more likely. If the surface is sticky and wet or you are plunging in past your ankle, it's time to start thinking about avalanches.

Showers that began on Monday night should peter out by Wednesday morning. The brief storm delivered a couple of inches of new snow to upper elevations and some light rain at lower elevations throughout the West South zone but did not significantly increase the avalanche hazard. 

That doesn’t mean that hazard doesn’t exist. On Wednesday, there is a chance you could find shallow Wind Slabs in lee alpine terrain or near rocky features such as cliffs and gullies. At lower elevations, the snowpack was well suited to handle rain in most locations. The caveat is where strong surface crusts did not exist prior to this storm. In these areas, you could find slopes over 35 degrees that are capable of producing some Wet Loose avalanches. If you are plunging into the snow past your ankle, keep these avalanches in mind. Temperatures are expected to increase Wednesday afternoon ahead of an incoming storm on Wednesday night. No matter your elevation, start to think about Wet Loose or cornice failures later in the day if the weather starts to change or if the storm arrives early. 

Unseasonably warm temperatures have impacted the zone for multiple days on the heels of two major avalanche cycles (January 6-7 and 11-12). During this time period, avalanches have trended downward, but recent cornice collapses, human-triggered avalanches on Mount St. Helens, and natural avalanches on Rainier and near the crest remind us that avalanches are possible even when hazard is minimal. The upper snowpack is considered to be generally strong with alternating layers of firm crusts, weak wet snow, and strong rounded grains. We do not have any identifiable layers of concern at this time.