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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 6th, 2015–Apr 7th, 2015

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Olympics.

Watch for generally small avalanches involving new storm snow on a variety of aspects and mainly above treeline Tuesday. 

Detailed Forecast

A slowly changing weather pattern will maintain cool weather, light winds and isolated showers again Tuesday in the Olympics.  Only light amounts of new snow are expected Monday night through Tuesday.     

For those slopes above treeline with enough snow to present an avalanche hazard...

Shallow storm slabs may develop by Tuesday in areas that receive greater shower activity. 

It's April, so be aware of the increased solar input reaching more aspects and affecting the snow surface quickly. Loose wet avalanches involving shallow amounts of recent storm snow will be also be possible Tuesday. 

Due to the continued cool weather, cornices won't be listed as an avalanche problem, but use caution on slopes below cornices and on ridges where it can be hard to know if a cornice is present.

Snowpack Discussion

The storm snow received mid to late March at Hurricane Ridge mostly melted near and below treeline during warm and occasionally rainy weather. 

A pair of cool frontal systems caused very light accumulations at Hurricane Ridge on Tuesday and again on Friday. Showers may have added a few more inches of snow for the west slopes of the Olympics over the weekend, but not near Hurricane Ridge. Unfortunately, we are still a long way off from building a meaningful snowpack in the Olympic mountains as we head further into spring, as any new snow received doesn't last long with the lengthening daylight and increased sun angles.     

No recent snowpack observations have been received from the Olympics and most areas near and below treeline in the Olympics do not have enough snow to cause an avalanche danger.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.