Avalanche Forecast

Partly to mostly cloudy Monday with light winds and moderate freezing levels. This will not change the overall low avalanche danger. The only highlighted avalanche problem along the east slopes of the Cascades exists in the Central Zone, where the likelihood of triggering a persistent slab is very low.  

As a general backcountry travel safety note, watch for terrain hazards (exposed rocks, trees, streams, etc.) at lower elevations and on wind scoured aspects. On non-solar aspects with a slick and supportable crust, take extra caution when traversing steep slopes and be prepared to self-arrest if necessary.  

Mild temperatures and a few light rain showers were received Saturday, followed by cloudy weather and a slight cooling trend Sunday. This has not appreciably changed the overall stable snowpack and current low danger.

East of the crest, about 6-12 inches of snow fell a week ago last Sunday, followed by about 1 to 3 inches of rain on Monday with a warming trend, especially on Monday.  This event led to a natural avalanche cycle east of the crest. At higher elevations in the northeast Cascades more of the precipitation fell as snow before precipitation ended on Monday, Jan 5. 

Backcountry skier/pro patroller Dan Veenhuizen, was on Mt Cashmere Tuesday and noted debris from large avalanches from Sun/Mon, Jan 4-5. At 6900 ft he found what should be the December facet layer at about 90 cm below the surface, however it was not reacting to an ECT. Also from this cycle, the North Cascade Mountain Guides reported large avalanches up to size D3 in the Washington Pass area, including slides reaching Hwy 20 but not crossing the closed highway. 

Mostly sunny and unseasonably warm weather occurred last week in the alpine, while the valleys stayed colder and cloudier. In most areas this weather has led to the draining, consolidation and general resetting of the upper or entire snowpack. Poor ski conditions have been reported last week with little reason to think they have changed for the better.

The Mission Ridge area saw less precipitation, but also experienced strong warming last week. On Friday, Mission Ridge pro-patrol reported the warm and wet regime had stabilized the upper snowpack and formed a supportable crust in most areas. However, depth hoar involved in large skier triggered avalanches in this area around the New Year, remained intact post-storm. While it is highly unlikely for a human to trigger a persistent slab down to this layer, we will continue to call this avalanche problem out in this zone.    

Facet layer in a pit on Mt Cashmere on Tuesday by Dan Veenhuizen.