Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Dry snow that fell at higher elevations is your largest avalanche concern if you make it up that far. The fresh snow still needs time to adjust, so choose lower-angle terrain and smaller features if you're traveling through several inches or feet of dry snow. Wet avalanches at mid and lower elevations may naturally occur as water travels down through the snowpack. 

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

    Use conservative decision-making when you find dry snow as you climb higher.  Thick slabs may just be waiting for a human trigger to avalanche,  as the storm's layers may not be set up well due to mid-storm warming or wind-effect, resulting in an "upside down" snowpack.  The most dangerous areas will be steep leeward sides of ridges where strong winds drifted snow into deeper slabs. However, areas that aren't wind-affected are still suspect. 

    Stick to lower-angle slopes and smaller terrain features. Even if there are trees or shrubs poking through an area, it doesn't mean it's impervious to avalanches. Search for clues like long, shooting cracks and recent signs of avalanches as obvious indicators to avoid steep slopes- but even if these clues are absent, this isn't the day to tempt fate by stepping out onto big, steep slopes up high. 

    Example photo: You could trigger slab avalanches that could catch and bury you on Tuesday. This is a small one- but ones on Tuesday at higher elevations could be larger. 

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    Rain reached into the upper elevation band Monday and Monday night. Peak wet avalanche activity likely occurred then, but some lingering wet snow problems may persist as water percolates further into the snowpack. Wet avalanches could still happen on Tuesday, probably where rain saturated further into the snowpack, mainly at mid-elevations where there is more snow than down low.  

    There's probably a higher chance of any wet avalanche activity being an odd natural avalanche, rather than one that you trigger. Considering the shallower snowpack, a wet avalanche might involve the entire depth of the snow, up to a couple feet deep. A slide may start as a loose point release, or it's not out of the question that a glide avalanche may happen. Given the uncertainty of this lingering hazard, consider steering around large, steep slopes, even if the snow cover isn't completely  smooth and consistent. 

    Wet avalanches in shallow snow layers could still happen on Tuesday. 

Avalanche Discussion

The tail end of the storm early Tuesday morning may result in a couple inches of dry snow over the wet layer, which could slide on the wet snow beneath it. There will be an unusual mix of dry and wet snow, with overlapping avalanche problems as you make your way higher. 

As of Monday evening weather station in the West Central zone have reported between 1 and 2" of water in the last 24 hours. This fell as a mix of snow and rain at lower elevations, but in general, resulted in a net loss across the lower-elevation band. Upper elevations just keep stacking up the snow. Our next atmospheric river starts Tuesday night, and temperatures will be even warmer for this event. 

Regions covered