East Slopes Central

Expect avalanches to be unlikely, with other travel hazards as your primary concern. Variable surfaces, including icy slopes and exposed rocks, will contribute to challenging travel and the potential for long uncontrollable falls on steep slopes. Clouds may be slow to form in the afternoon, and slopes in direct sun may shed some rollerballs or small wet loose avalanches.

While the mountains didn't pick up much snow, surfaces did get a nice refresh, and there may be some deeper pockets of windblown snow at upper elevations. Observers from Holden found dry settled powder in sheltered northern aspects above 5800ft. If you travel near ridges in these high elevation alpine zones, you may find small wind slabs on lee aspects. Use visual clues such as textured surfaces and cornice formation to identify wind-affected terrain. If you see signs of instability, such as shooting cracks, consider traveling on low-angle routes. Remember that terrain traps such as cliffs, rocks, trees, and open creeks can increase the consequences of even small avalanches. 

Thursday will start cold before freezing levels bump up slightly in the afternoon. The cold temperatures and afternoon cloud cover will likely keep surfaces cool enough to prevent significant wet loose avalanche activity. However, very steep rocky terrain in direct sun may shed a few rollerballs or small wet loose avalanches. 

Various challenging surface conditions exist, such as slick crusts, frozen reef-like conditions, and thin snow cover at low elevations. Challenging travel will likely remain a significant hazard and create the potential for long uncontrollable slides on steep terrain. Make sure to bring appropriate equipment for these conditions. In addition, the widespread avalanche cycle that occurred throughout the Cascades on the 28th left plenty of large piles of debris to navigate. 

Observers throughout the zone have found weak faceted snow on sheltered northern aspects. The recent dusting of snow may have preserved this weak snow and could become a persistent weak layer with the potential for snow over the weekend. We are also still tracking older persistent weak layers, and observers at Holden found variable test results on weaker snow beneath a thin crust from Valentine's Day about 3ft down on a NE aspect at 5,600ft. While there haven't been any recently reported avalanches on this layer, it is worth digging down to identify if this weak structure exists in the areas you are traveling.