Avalanche forecast

West Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

The storm snow is deep but the greatest hazard is in wind-affected areas. You’ll want to watch for subtle clues like small drifts or the snow missing from trees to help you anticipate and avoid potentially wind-loaded areas. You may find wind drifted pockets on a variety of aspects, even down in the trees.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    As the storm snow continues to settle, the hazard has shifted to more wind-affected areas. Over the last several days the wind has blown from a variety of different directions and could have formed slabs on nearly every aspect. Keep your eyes peeled for subtle clues that the wind affected the snow. Small drifts and changes in the depth and feel of the surface can help you locate possibly wind-loaded areas. Steer around smooth pillow-like drifts on steep slopes to avoid this problem.

    Given the recent wind speeds, this won’t be a very widespread problem. However, because of the varying and, at times, gusty nature of recent winds, you could encounter some interesting loading patterns. Don’t be surprised to find pockets of wind drifted snow even at lower elevations.

    (4/13/2022)

    Subtle clues of possible wind slabs can help you locate and avoid this potential hazard.

    Photo: Andy Harrington

Avalanche Discussion

Wintery weather should continue in the West South zone Thursday. While we may not see the significant snow totals over the next 24 hrs, showers will continue to pile up several inches across the zone. At times, you may even see moderate to heavy precipitation quickly accumulating snow on the ground. The big question continues to be the sky and if you’ll see significant sun breaks. We think mostly cloudy skies, cool temperatures, and an easterly breeze will minimize the impacts of any short-lived sunbreaks. However, the April sun is strong and it won't take much to cause natural loose avalanches. If you see the snow shed from trees, rollballs, or teardrop-shaped slides, the danger may be changing. Natural loose avalanches could occur during periods of prolonged sunshine, especially on more southerly slopes. If you expect these conditions are developing, it's time to get away from steep slopes basking in the sun. 

The recent active weather pattern has been very good for the West South region. Storm totals range from 30-50 inches across the zone since April 8th. Now, 2-3+ feet of settled snow sits over the 4/8 crust. Outside of wind-affected areas, observations continue to find this snow is generally right-side-up. While some storm layers can still be found, no recent avalanches have been reported in the storm snow. You can use the 4/8 crust to help focus your observations on the overlying snow. It can also help indicate deeper/wind-loaded and shallower/wind-stripped locations. With so much snow sitting on this crust, any avalanche could entrain significant amounts of snow and quickly grow large. Fortunately, we don’t expect avalanches to fail or involve older snow layers.

Regions covered