Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!
RegisterRegister for an account and never miss a forecast again!
RegisterJan 20th, 2020–Jan 21st, 2020
.
Heavy snow and wind during the day will develop dangerous conditions as the day progresses, with slabs rapidly increasing in size, extent, and reactivity. Anywhere you find more than 8” of snow over the crust, evaluate the new snow layering and bond to the crust using frequent hand shears or test slopes. As conditions deteriorate, steer clear of slopes steeper than 35 degrees.
We’re not sure whether we’ll get to considerable danger at all elevations on Tuesday and it largely depends on how quickly the snow piles up. A period of very active weather and heavy snowfall starting Tuesday will continue through Wednesday resulting in further increased avalanche danger on Wednesday.
Looking backward, it’s been a wild week in the West North zone with cold deep snow conditions rapidly transitioning to wet surface snow with 10 inches of snowpack settlement at Heather Meadows since snow changed to rain on Sunday morning. Mt. Baker picked up unexpectedly significant rainfall totals on Monday (0.66” during the day) with snow mixing with rain at 5000 ft as temperatures cooled, dropping an inch of snow at Pan Dome. The inch or more of water since Saturday has wet the upper foot of the snowpack and triggered a frequent-flying glide slope:
Large glide avalanche on the Boulderfield, SSW aspect, Mt. Herman. Photo credit: Zack McGill, Baker Mountain Guides.
While we expect this is an isolated incident, it’s easier for us to anticipate where they might occur (steep, smooth rock slopes below and near treeline) than exactly when they might occur. The threat may persist up to several days after today's rain event.
New Regional Synopsis coming soon. We update the Regional Synopsis every Thursday at 6 pm.