Avalanche forecast

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Welcome back to the 2024-25 avalanche forecast season!

You can trigger avalanches in wind drifted snow at upper elevations on Wednesday. Steer around consequential or unsupported steep slopes if they appear drifted or textured. Tread lightly as early season hazards, such as shallowly buried rocks, creeks, and trees are still present.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    You can trigger avalanches in pockets of wind drifted snow on Wednesday. You may find these slabs to be larger and more prominent in areas that received more recent snow, like the Bumping Lake and HW 410 area. You’ll typically find these wind slabs on the lee side of ridges, below cornices, and near rock and cliff bands. Look for visual clues like blowing snow and textured surfaces to help you identify where the wind has been at work. These wind slabs typically take a few days to heal, so consider using more sheltered terrain and steer around steep slopes that appear loaded.  Cracks shooting out from your sled or feet are obvious signs that you found an unstable slab. 

    (11/25/2024)

    An example of a small wind slab that was triggered near Mission Ridge on Monday. 

    Photo: Katie Warren

Avalanche Discussion

Wow, what a November so far! In general, snotels across the East-South report depths of 30-40 inches above 4500 ft. The East South saw a wide range of snow totals from our recent storm system that wrapped up on Monday. The Bumping Lake area was the winner with 14 inches of new snow, while Green Lake near Darland Mountain only picked up 7 inches. With that, you’ll likely encounter heightened avalanche conditions if you recreate closer to Chinook Pass or around Bumping Lake. 

While travel conditions have improved dramatically in the past days, you may still find rough travel in the trees at lower and mid elevations, which this Goat Peak observation from November 24th highlights. 

There is still a lot of uncertainty and limited observations across the zone this time of year. Approach terrain with an early season, assessment mindset. Evaluate terrain on a slope-by-slope basis and give yourself wider safety margins when approaching steeper terrain.

If you get out, let us know what you see by submitting a public observation!

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