West Slopes Central

This little storm should only bring and inch or two of snow to the West Central zone and not really impact the avalanche danger. Instead, you should prepare for what could be tricky and potentially dangerous variable travel conditions and early season obstacles.

A weakening storm could bring a couple of inches of snow to the area. While this shouldn’t amount to much, the northern portion of the zone could see slightly higher storm totals and greater avalanche issues. You might find small wind slabs in locations north of Darrington and in some of the higher terrain.

Blowing snow and firm pillow-like drifts can help you identify these isolated wind-loaded pockets you might want to avoid. With so many obstacles, even a tiny slide could take you for a nasty ride if you get knocked over. 

Cloudy skies and stronger winds should help keep frozen snow surfaces frozen on Thursday and limit avalanche concerns. Instead, these crunchy surfaces could create challenging travel. Breakable crust, icy surfaces, irregular runnels, frozen debris, and variable conditions would be a problem in their own right. Throw in flowing cheeks, open holes, exposed rocks, and numerous shrubs/trees and you have the makings for potentially hazardous travel. Take it slow and give yourself extra time to handle this laundry list of early-season obstacles and snow conditions.