West Slopes South

Even with a few inches of new snow, generally safe avalanche conditions should continue on Thursday. As you ascend in elevation, you may have to steer around some dry snow drifted into piles by the wind. If springtime temperatures return, look for fresh rollerballs or moist unconsolidated snow as an indication of wet avalanche potential. 

The recent storm dropped a few inches of snow around the West South zone but didn’t produce high enough totals to develop widespread dry avalanche hazard. That doesn’t mean that hazard doesn’t exist. NPS rangers at Mount Rainier reported that the new snow was being drifted around by moderate winds and filling gaps in the variable surface on Wednesday. You can expect this observation to translate well into most areas of the zone on Thursday. If you’re going to find an avalanche in the morning, it will most likely be a shallow pocket of wind-drifted snow at mid to upper elevations. Looking for fresh pillow-like piles of snow or cracking of the snow surface under your feet can help you identify areas to steer around. 

As the day wears on, temperatures may rebound and the sun could start to impact the newly fallen snow. If this happens, start to watch the snow surface to see if it is getting wet and sticky or is producing some rollerballs and pinwheels. If so, you may have to think about steering around some Wet Loose avalanches on steeper slopes. If it doesn’t happen Thursday, it is only a matter of time until springtime weather starts to shed this new snow in the form of wet avalanches. 

While most avalanches (wet or dry) should be relatively small, don’t let one catch you in consequential terrain like pushing you over a cliff or into a stand of trees. We expect the new snow should be generally well bonded to a fairly stout melt-freeze crust. Below this interface (3/30)  you’ll find a mix of large melt-forms, crusts, and rounded grains until you get down to the Early March Crust. Just above this crust, you should still be able to find the 3/8 facets that we are still keeping an eye on.

As you travel, keep an eye out for natural hazards such as bare ground, rocks, stumps, or open creeks on the surface or barely buried by the new snow. These were especially prevalent at lower elevations earlier this week and could now be more pronounced.