Avalanche forecast

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

It shouldn’t take long for sunshine and warm temperatures to make the snow surface wet and weak. You might push small wet avalanches in very steep terrain, or blobs of snow could fall off rocks and ridgelines. Start your day early and get back before things get too sloppy.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    Clear skies Sunday night could allow the surface to freeze despite the warm temperatures. Once any crust breaks down, game on. Wet avalanches could go from non-existent to easy trigger. The one thing we have in our favor is the lack of snow over the 3/25 crust. That’s limiting the size of human triggered wet loose slides. Expect avalanches to be slightly larger near the crest, where more snow fell last week. 

    Pay attention to the surface and how it changes by aspect, elevation, and slope angle. If you find wet snow deeper than your ankle, head to lower angle or less slushy slopes. 

    After several days of above freezing temperatures, the chance for weird shed-style avalanches grows. Blobs of snow could fall off rocks, or chunks of cornice may collapse. Fortunately, there’s not much left to fall down. However, with temperatures this warm, anything remaining might let go. Don’t spend any more time under these hazards than necessary. It’s impossible to say if or when they’ll release. Even a small chunk of dense wet snow would back a big punch.

Avalanche Discussion

We’re in for yet another warm and sunny day. This time, temperatures in the East Central zone could tick a notch higher. Yikes! Most weather stations haven’t dipped below freezing since Friday. That’ll be 3 nights without a solid freeze. Often, this is when we start to worry about the snowpack producing weird wet avalanches. 

One thing that’s a bit different with this setup is the burly 3/25 crust. This layer may be at or near the surface in some places. It’s often stout enough to break your shovel. This solid layer has helped keep the snowpack locked up and the avalanche danger lower. In the western portion of the zone, you could find 3-5 inches of recent snow over the crust. In some spots, sugary facets were observed. It's hard to imagine these weak grains surviving this weekend’s heat. If you were to find them, it would most likely be on a higher elevation, shaded slope. Further east in the zone, the 3/25 crust may not be as thick, but neither is the snowpack. In this case, less snow equals less hazard. 

Access and observations have been tricky in the East Central zone. That means we aren’t quite as confident as normal. If you’re using the nice weather to head to higher and more remote locations, recognize we know very little about the snowpack in these areas. It may feel like spring, but in most places the snowpack hasn’t fully made the transition. 

Coverage remains a major issue, particularly at lower elevations and on southerly slopes. Open creeks, random holes, downed logs, and exposed rocks take time and patience to navigate safely. 

Regions covered