West Slopes South
Avalanche danger
Highlights
It's unlikely you will see or trigger an avalanche. It's still wise to pay attention when traveling in exposed alpine terrain with signs of recent wind transport or anytime the sun warms the snow surface. Use normal caution in backcountry travel.
Avalanche Discussion
It's unlikely you will find an avalanche in the next few days, but if you do, it would probably be one of the following scenarios . . .
1) You are in a place that received more than a few inches of new snow since the weekend. Moderate winds drifted this snow onto leeward slopes, where it formed pockets of shallow wind slab. You ignore signs of active or previous wind transport, dive right into the steepest start zone with the smoothest-looking snow, and manage to trigger one. Hopefully, it's small enough that you don't go for the ride. If you do, you hope there are no consequences in the runout, like rocks, trees, crevasses, or huge cliffs.
2) You are in a place that received more than a few inches of new snow since the weekend. The sun defies expectations and breaks through the clouds. Even though temperatures are still quite cool, the strong sun of April quickly warms the new snow. You start to see signs of instability, like rollerballs and pinwheels. Disregarding these observations, you ascend a steep slope below rocky terrain that is shedding snow. A bit of snow falling from a small cliff is enough to start pushing more wet snow down the hill towards you. Re-read the last two sentences of scenario #1.
On Thursday, an NWAC Forecaster in the Tattosh Range found 1" of new snow above a crust. Signs of wind transport and loading were visible, but the deepest drift they could find topped out at 8" and was unreactive when tested. The upper snowpack consists of alternating layers of crusts and rounded grains, with no layers of concern. No fresh avalanche activity was observed. An observer on St. Helens found similar conditions. Other weather stations around West South showed generally cool temperatures, light winds and an inch or two of new snow in the last 24 hours.