Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Olympics.
Triggering an avalanche will be unlikely Sunday; however other mountain hazards exist. Avoid steep icy slopes where stopping a fall will be very difficult. Use normal caution including always carrying a beacon, shovel, and probe.
Detailed Forecast
No significant avalanche problems exist in the region. A strong surface crust, uniform snowpack, and no layers of concern will make avalanches unlikely Sunday. Â Use normal caution when traveling in the mountains. Always carry a beacon, shovel, and probe and use travel practices that minimize your exposure to avalanche terrain.
Non-avalanche related hazards should be considered Sunday.
Hard smooth surface crust will make stopping a fall in steep terrain very difficult.
Large openings in the snowpack due to glide cracks, creeks, and around buried rocks have been reported. Falling into these holes creates a danger for backcountry travelers.
Snowpack Discussion
A trace of new snow from Friday night sits atop a very strong and consolidated snowpack.
Above freezing temperatures and rain in early February created spring-like snowpack conditions throughout the Olympics. A well-drained and relatively uniform snowpack exists in most location. There are currently no layers of concern in the snowpack.
Height of snow varies greatly across the landscape. Sunny aspects have snowpacks half the depth of nearby shaded slopes.
Recent warm and wet weather produced glide cracks on slopes with smooth ground surfaces. Some glide cracks resulted in large Glide Avalanches over the past week. These occurred in common locations such as Steeple, and the Steep-and-Icy avalanche paths.
Observations
NWAC pro-observer Matt Schonwald and NPS Rangers traveled in the Mt Angeles areas Thursday, 2/8. The snowpack was described as a fairly uniform, well drained late spring snowpack, lacking any distinctive layering. There were a few glide avalanches observed, likely releasing last Saturday during a rain event.