Avalanche forecast

East Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago.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

Highlights

You may trigger wet avalanches on steep, low-elevation slopes. Watch for recent avalanches, rollerballs, and rain on previously dry snow as indicators. Give yourself options to move to lower-angle terrain if wet avalanches become a concern.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    You could trigger wet avalanches and they may even run naturally as wet precipitation adds up by the second half of the day. Expect them primarily below treeline on shaded northwest through northeast aspects where the upper snowpack previously remained dry and cold. With enough rain and wet snow, avalanches could extend onto southerly aspects and into the near treeline elevation band. Previously sun-exposed east through west aspects may hold enough of a surface crust that they may be resistant to softening or may be lacking of snow available to slide. Pay attention to how much the surface snow is moistening and how easily it slides on test slopes.

    (4/4/2023) Wet Loose debris in Trout Creek area Photo: Willie Webster

Avalanche Discussion

Expect the avalanche danger to increase in the afternoon and overnight into Friday. Warm and stormy weather will impact the area, though this isn't a strong pattern for this zone. Upper elevations will receive dry snow and wind, though not enough of either during daylight hours to produce any real avalanche hazard. Up 4-8" of snow accumulated from March 31st to April 3rd. Northerly aspects and upper elevations could now be harboring weak snow surfaces and which may form a poor bond at the new/old snow interface. All of these factors will be important as precipitation adds up for Friday. While we're now well into April, the avalanche conditions and snowpack are closer to that which we typically see in mid to late winter. Much of the snowpack is nowhere near transitioning to typical spring melt-freeze conditions.

As access has become difficult in many areas, we have minimal precise information from the zone. On Tuesday, Willie Webster went on an aerial tour of the zone and produced some great images of the current snow cover and recent avalanche activity. Notable were a couple of older avalanches including a very large natural slab avalanche on a NNE aspect of Silverstar Mtn and a natural glide avalanche on Hinkhouse Peak. See the photos below. Last Thursday, Willie snowmobiled up to Harts Pass finding some large debris piles to cross over on the way. The road was melting out quickly near Deadhorse Pt. He found a mix of sun crusts on the surface, though higher elevations looked to hold a cold, layered snowpack. 

Regions covered