Avalanche forecast

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Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Get ready for another day of sunshine and surprisingly mild temperatures at mid and upper elevations.  Even with Low Danger, you still have to consider the potential for small wet loose avalanches releasing below sunlit cliffy terrain or on very steep sunny slopes.  You're likely to find softer snow lingering on shady aspects.  

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1

    Small wet loose avalanches will likely be confined to isolated areas below steep rocky terrain or on very steep sunny slopes during the middle part of the day. Take care around terrain traps and be aware of your overhead hazard where a small avalanche can have an outsized impact.  

    Persistent temperature inversions will stick around meaning colder air remains trapped at lower elevations and below the cloud deck, and much warmer air will be found at mid and upper elevations above the muck.  The western part of the zone will likely be slightly warmer versus areas further east.  

    While generally safe avalanche conditions are expected across the zone, pay attention if you see signs that the hazard is higher in your local area than anticipated.  In sunnier terrain, if you find surface crusts breaking down and you're sinking into wet snow more than a few inches deep, change aspects or move to lower angle terrain.  You're likely to find soft snow and good riding and sliding conditions on shady aspects. 

    (3/17/2024)

    Example of Wet loose avalanches of steep rocky terrain.  

    Photo: Willie Webster

Avalanche Discussion

It's a rinse and repeat story both weather and avalanche-wise until something (like a more active pattern at the end of the week) literally mixes the atmosphere up.  Bundle up down low in the gray and bring your sunglasses above the inversion, likely 4000-4500', as daytime temperatures warm into the upper 30s to upper 40s. 

On Saturday, forecaster Katie Warren traveled on southerly slopes near Cutthroat Peak and found a thin sun crust topped with surface hoar. This crust tapered out above 6300ft but may now extend to upper elevations with ongoing sunshine and increasingly mild temperatures. The snowpack was shallow but right-side up, with soft, weakening snow in the upper pack and consolidated snow in the mid and lower snowpack. There is plenty of wind-affected snow. While triggering a wind slab avalanche will be difficult, expect variable surfaces with wind crusts of different depths and hardnesses. 

Lower elevation snowpacks are still thin, and travel off roads or summer trails below 5000ft would be challenging. Snow depths near the Hairpin Valley at road level were 2-3ft.  But as you gain elevation, a deeper but variable snowpack exists with snow depths from 3 to 5 feet (80-150+cm) above 6000ft on northerly terrain. Southerly aspects at similar elevations held a shallower snowpack between 2-3ft deep.  Many early-season obstacles, such as trees, rocks, logs, and creeks, are exposed or sometimes barely hidden underneath wind drifted surfaces. 

Regions covered