Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

Lingering shallow wind slabs at above treeline elevations are where you're most likely to trigger an avalanche on Saturday. Search out thicker drifts in gullies, below ridgelines, and around features, and bypass steep terrain with this recently drifted snow. Depending on cloud cover and snow conditions, wet loose avalanches may occur on steep slopes on the southerly portion of the compass as the sun intensifies midday. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    Your main concerns on Saturday are lingering slabs on above treeline steep slopes. Slabs will probably be shallow, around 6 inches deep, however, there is a small chance that you could trigger a deeper slide in an isolated pocket where wind loading could have deposited thicker slabs. If you end up in wind-loaded terrain where you notice thicker, heavier deposits of snow, navigate around convexities or other steep features. Don't forget that even if an avalanche is small, if you're in high-consequence terrain, that small avalanche may be enough to cause serious damage. 

    If you find yourself at higher elevations  and see wind-affected surfaces like this, that's when it's a good time to take a more conservative route. Note the shooting crack, an obvious indicator pointing to unstable snow. Move to lower-angled and more sheltered slopes if you see signs like this.  

    Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

Wet loose avalanches may occur on Saturday. South-facing aspects in some areas, especially further north in the zone, may have gotten a little sun on Friday and a crust could have formed overnight. Temperatures will be cooler, but if the sun comes out it could melt through the crust and wet loose avalanches could actively occur on steep, south-facing slopes midday. If the day starts without a crust, slopes will react to the sun sooner. Pay attention to your surroundings, and if you start noticing the snow get heavy and wet, or see rollerballs starting to come down, wet loose avalanches could follow.

In the northern half of the zone we received just under a half inch of water, or 4-5" of snow, while two weather stations further south both saw over an inch of water, which may translate to over a foot of snow at upper elevations. Lighter winds than expected occurred, and warm temperatures helped strengthen the snow quickly. Fewer reactive slabs were present than originally suspected in neighboring zones. People mainly found sluffs, or small loose dry avalanches in steep shady terrain, which you could probably find on Saturday as well. A few small wind slab avalanches were triggered, and these small slab avalanches could still be encountered on Saturday. 

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