Olympics

Fresh snow and W wind will build shallow slabs. If you find drifted snow fully obscuring the pervasive rain rills, steer around these steep wind-loaded slopes. Large cracks should warn you away from any potential bedrock slopes that may fail without warning as water seeps through the snowpack.

Temperatures rose to the mid-30s Thursday afternoon and should peak with the warm-up peaking Wednesday night. We're expecting around 0.35" of rain overnight with several inches of snowfall Thursday morning as temperatures cool.

The warming and rainfall will create some potential for glide avalanches on steep bedrock slopes. Don't linger on or beneath these smooth bedrock underlying terrain features. Small loose wet avalanche problems peak overnight into the morning hours at all elevations, but as snow accumulates and surfaces refreeze, wet avalanches will be increasingly confined to lower elevations. 

Winds may drift the new snow into shallow slabs you can trigger in very steep terrain just in the lee of ridgelines. You may be able to use rain rills as a marker for the depth of the wind-drifted snow. If you can't see the rill texture through the fresh snow, the wind slab will be large enough to trigger. Steer around suspect slopes steeper than 35 degrees.

Observers noted a big change in the snowpack versus late December as the recent warm and wet weather this month has taken a bite out of the snowpack. Below the snow surface, alternating layers of firm crusts, weak wet snow, and strong rounded grains exist. At the moment we aren’t tracking any layers of concern in the upper snowpack.  

2021-22 Forecast Schedule: Avalanche danger ratings will be issued for the Olympics every Friday through Sunday and during mid-week holidays. During the week when the Hurricane Ridge road is closed, forecast information will be updated daily to include expected conditions and relevant travel advice under the No Rating label.