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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 25th, 2015–Mar 26th, 2015

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Olympics.

Partly sunny skies Thursday along with high freezing levels will maintain the threat of loose wet avalanches Thursday on slopes with enough snow to avalanche.  

Detailed Forecast

Partly sunny skies Thursday along with high freezing levels will maintain the threat of loose wet avalanches Thursday on slopes with enough snow to avalanche. Avoid steeper slopes above treeline if you are sinking in more than a few inches, and be aware the even small loose wet avalanches can push you into unintended terrain features.  

Most areas near and below treeline in the Olympics do not have enough snow to cause an avalanche danger.

Snowpack Discussion

The 16-18 inches of storm snow that fell March 14th-15th mostly melted at Hurricane Ridge. The total snow depth at the NWAC weather station settled or melted and lost 10 inches last week.

Just a few inches of new snow accumulated last weekend. Winds may have built some small cornices along ridges and built some small wind slabs on lee slopes. The 3 or so inches of snow that accumulated at Hurricane Ridge Tuesday night has been washed away by light rain and warm winds Wednesday.

Overall the snowpack remains meager at Hurricane. There is probably only enough recent snow for avalanches above treeline on the higher peaks of the Olympics.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.