Loose Wet
- Alta montaña
- Límite del bosque
- Bajo el límite del bosque
- Probabilidad
- Likely
- Tamaño
- 1–2
This is a day to travel carefully in the backcountry. Depending on your elevation, you can expect to see different varieties of wet snow avalanches:
Somewhere up high, there's a bunch of new, relatively dry snow, and when it gets wet Tuesday night into Wednesday, most initial activity will probably be wet loose. Natural avalanches could run from steep areas, especially around rocks and in gullies, or likewise, you could trigger an avalanche in a similar area. It wouldn't be surprising if we even see a wet slab releasing on an underlying lubricated crust at upper elevations, especially later in the day. Choose lower-angle terrain for your outing on Wednesday, and if you see natural avalanches then consider avoiding runouts of large paths.
A lot of rain has already come down at lower elevations, and our wet loose avalanche concerns in these locations is probably behind us. As the rain continues, it may revitalize glide avalanches that began releasing at the tail end of the last atmospheric river. These will mainly be at mid-elevations, in the usual smooth rock slab locations. Considering steering around any lingering swaths of snow perched on smooth rock slabs and the runouts beneath these areas. There's a chance some could reach down into the lower elevations- so be sure to remain aware of overhead hazards even down low.
(12/9/2025)
Wet loose avalanches that recently occurred in the Baker backcountry.
There may be another round of these, but higher in elevation, when the next wave of rain hits Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Photo: Jere Burrell - Guided Exposure