Lawinenlagebericht

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Thu
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
3 · Erheblich
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Kernpunkte

The storm is not over - heavy snowfall is forecast to continue into Wednesday. Dangerous avalanche conditions persist in many areas and require a cautious mindset for safe backcountry travel. When in doubt stick to slopes less than 35 degrees. Avoid all avalanche terrain if you encounter very heavy snowfall, find widespread signs of instability like shooting cracks or whumphing, or see recent avalanche activity.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Storm Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1–2.5

    West Central could see another 8-16” of new snow on top of the 24” or more that fell so far with this storm. Winds should also stay strong enough overnight to transport abundant fresh snow onto leeward slopes. While avalanche danger is decreasing compared to Tuesday, you could still find large avalanches, especially in wind-loaded terrain.

    Observations were few across the Cascades given stormy conditions pretty much everywhere. With this in mind take an assessment mindset into the mountains with you tomorrow. Start with a conservative plan and get a handle on snowpack structure and recent avalanche activity before considering anything more complex. The simplest bet will be to stay off large steep slopes or any steep slope with consequences in the runout.

    Loose snow avalanches have the potential to knock you off your feet and push you around in steep terrain. While probably not big enough to bury you, they could push you into a creek, trees, or some other early-season hazard.

    (1/6/2024)

    You could still find an avalanche like this - or bigger - on Wednesday.

    Photo: Jason Speer - Baker Mountain Guides

Avalanche Discussion

Observations were limited given a stormy forecast that had many holding off backcountry travel until Wednesday. In West Central, Snoqualmie and Stevens Pass weather conditions met or even exceeded expectations with heavy snowfall, strong winds, and poor visibility.  While avalanche observations were few, this probably had more to do with the difficulty of accessing avalanche terrain than actual avalanche danger. A cycle of natural avalanche activity from overnight Tuesday was reported from Stevens Pass. 

A layer of facets overlying the 12/30 melt-freeze crust was buried 2-3 feet deep during the previous storm on Jan 5-6th in adjacent zones like West North. This layer is suspected to be behind the larger natural and explosive-triggered avalanches associated with that storm. While getting buried even deeper and becoming harder to trigger, it’s still on the list of snowpack factors until observations provide a better picture of what happened out there over the last 24-36 hours.

Abgedeckte Regionen