Lawinenlagebericht

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

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

Kernpunkte

Blustery, windy weather is scheduled to return on Thursday. Identify and avoid steep slopes where you observe wind-drifted snow. Recent snowpack and avalanche observations are limited to zones around West Central. Be ready to assess avalanche danger for yourself. Read the forecast for the neighboring zone closest to where you plan to get into the mountains.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

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

    An additional 6-12" of new snow is forecast to fall over the next 24 hours. This will add to the already impressive amount of cold, light snow on the ground, waiting to get strewn about by the wind. With a more westerly wind direction, there may be big differences in conditions in different parts of the zone. Some areas could see sustained strong winds drifting snow at even low elevations. Others may remain quite calm.

    Blowing and drifting snow should show exactly which steep slopes are loading up. If it stops blowing but keeps snowing, signs of wind transport could become obscured. Track differences in snow stiffness as you gain elevation and change aspects to help pin down where fresh wind slabs might be hiding.

    Active wind transport should show you where you are more likely to trigger an avalanche.

Avalanche Discussion

While fresh wind slabs are the type of avalanche you are most likely to encounter, you could still trigger a slab avalanche in wind-sheltered terrain. A layer of facets overlying the 12/30 melt-freeze crust is now buried 3-5’ deep (or deeper!) in the NWAC forecast zones around West Central. Avalanche activity is decreasing, but control work at Mt. Baker, Stevens Pass, and Alpental still  produced avalanches that probably ran at the 12/30 interface.

Weather conditions on Thursday will likely restrict travel in the kind of terrain where you might still trigger one of these avalanches. On the other hand, calmer conditions heading into the weekend will open the door to the bigger, steeper, and unsupported terrain where you might find one. Use caution approaching big slopes in the coming days and get a handle on snowpack structure and recent avalanche activity before considering more complex terrain.

No other natural or human-triggered avalanches were reported as of Wednesday afternoon. Riding conditions were excellent and visibility was pretty good for the majority of the day along Hwy 542 in West North. Cloudier, snowier conditions were found most of the day in other parts of the Cascades.

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