Avalanche forecast

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The likelihood of triggering avalanches is decreasing, but still be on the lookout for signs of instability in wind-drifted areas at upper elevations. Do your homework before committing to larger slopes, and steer around pockets if they sound hollow or see shooting cracks. Even a small avalanche can have a bad outcome if you get pushed into rocks or other early-season terrain traps. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Recent warm temperatures and time are helping these wind slabs gain strength. However, at upper elevations, you’ll still encounter dry snow available for transport and may even notice moderate wind speeds drifting snow. With this, you may still encounter pockets of unstable snow in wind drifted areas. 

    These unstable slabs will be most common on the leeward sides of ridges, below cornices, near the tops of chutes and couloirs, and scattered throughout the alpine. All that said recent east winds may throw you a curveball, so look for these slabs in some not-so-common areas, like across terrain features (cross-loading) or even on west aspects. 

    Pay attention to the direction of wind loading and use visual surface clues to help you identify the avalanche problem. Look for sharp drifts, pillow-like slabs, or dunes at the snow surface to help you spot where the wind has been at work. These slabs could break in surprising ways if they overlay surface hoar, facets, or recently buried crusts. Use small test slopes or hand pits to gauge how reactive the slab is. Consider steering around steep wind-loaded slopes if you notice active drifting or signs of instability, such as shooting cracks or hollow-sounding snow.

    (12/1/2023)

    Use small test slopes and look for signs of instability like this before committing to steeper slopes. 

     

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

Friday will bring another round of moderate east winds and warm temperatures. Weather stations across the zone reported above-freezing temperatures extending to 5500 ft across the zone on Wednesday. This will likely limit  wind transport below these elevations. Gradual warming and moist snow has been limiting wet loose activity, but still be on the lookout and consider avoiding steep slopes if you notice sticky, sloppy snow and rollerballs initiating. 

On Thursday observers across the zone found warmer conditions than previous days but still found dry snow on more shaded aspects. An NWAC observer in the Holden area reported improving ski quality with recent incremental storms and a weak upper snowpack structure that will be worth watching once we build more of a slab. You can read their full observation here. Matt traveled in the Dirtyface area and found similar findings but more pronounced warming. He reported moist snow surfaces extending to ridgetop on S-SE aspects and a weak upper snowpack structure consisting of facet/crust sandwich and layers of buried surface hoar. Check out his full observation here. 

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

 

Regions covered