Boletín de aludes

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Peligro de aludes

Thu
Alta montaña
3 · Notable
Límite del bosque
2 · Moderado
Bajo el límite
2 · Moderado
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Desactualizado: este boletín caducó 3 years ago. Estás viendo condiciones pasadas, no el boletín vigente.

Lo esencial

The snowpack may take another day to recover from the heavy rain. You'll still want to be thinking about wet avalanches, so if you get out steer clear of large slopes, gullies and rock slabs that could shed snow. Travel conditions may be unpleasant with a punchy, wet snowpack. 

Problemas de aludes

  • Wet Slabs

    • Alta montaña
    • Límite del bosque
    • Bajo el límite del bosque
    Probabilidad
    Very Likely
    Tamaño
    1.5–2.5

    As the rain turns to showers, water will continue to drain into and out from the snowpack. Wet slabs could be large and entrain heavy debris and mud as they flow downhill. Aside from wet slabs, avalanches may encompass a variety of all things wet on Wednesday including wet loose slides, glide slabs, and debris flows.  Because of the shallow snowpack, any slide is likely to scour to ground. For glides, they may be more location dependent. Glide slabs may peel from smooth rocks or grassy areas. Often the same areas year after year will produce them, so use that local knowledge. 

    The mid and upper elevation slopes may take longer to change over and stabilize. At lower elevations the snowpack is dwindling, though you could still find an isolated slope with continuous snow cover to watch out for. If you find yourself sinking deep into wet, unconsolidated snow, than don't go onto, or linger underneath large features. 

    (1/13/2023)

    Example of smaller wet slides in steep, rocky terrain from last January in Tumwater Canyon.

    Photo: Harlan Sheppard

Avalanche Discussion

Freezing levels and precipitation rates peaked early Tuesday morning. The top of Mt Stuart may have even seen a somewhat rare deluge of rain in December. A strong atmospheric river comes crashing into the Pacific Northwest Monday night. The brunt of the precipitation will be pointed at the west-north and west-central cascades, but look for significant precipitation totals ( especially near Salmon La Sac) on the western edges of the east-central. 

On Monday, higher-elevation weather stations struggled to get above freezing. The snowpack at upper elevations of the Stuart Range or Chiwawa may have stayed dry through Monday - but that won't be the case for much longer. Rain will inevitably reach ridgelines across the zone and make for a very dangerous day for mountain travel, especially at these higher elevations. 

Observers reported endless signs of instability across the region this past weekend. On Sunday, the Mission Ridge Pro Patrol reported propagating slabs and touchy conditions. These slabs generally failed 6-12 in deep and upwards of 2 ft in wind-loaded areas. These slabs failed on the old weak snow from November. Observers in neighboring zones have reported widespread avalanches, failing on faceted snow from November. This kind of bullseye information tells us our structure is poor and will only become more dangerous as we start introducing rain. 

Before this week's storm, snow cover was minimal to nonexistent below 4,500ft, especially on sun-exposed slopes. Depending on where you go, the chance to hit buried rocks, logs and other obstacles may still prove a significant hazard. 

You can add to the forecast! Please let us know what you see in the mountains by submitting an observation.

 

 

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