East Slopes South

More rain will maintain wet avalanche concerns across the zone. Continue to avoid steep snow-covered slopes with wet, unsupportable surfaces, sagging cornices, or other steep features that could shed wet snow. Expect high creeks and rough, low-elevation travel. 

Back-to-back atmospheric rivers have delivered 2-5 inches of precipitation (mostly rain) across the zone, with higher amounts closer to the Cascade Crest. Thursday looks like another wet day in the mountains, but precipitation should begin to taper towards the end of the day, bringing a welcome end to a very wet period. 

If you decide to brave the storm and head out for a soggy day in the mountains, keep a couple of things in mind:

1) Wet avalanches: Wet avalanches will continue to shed as rain continues to fall. Expect any combo of wet loose, wet slab, and cornice shed on slopes with continuous snow. Look for these wet snow instabilities to be most prevalent on slopes above 6000 ft that hold a more connected snowpack. 

2). Early-season hazards: Early-season conditions plague our terrain, even at higher elevations. Watch for shallowly buried rocks, trees, and creeks. Recognize that even small slides can have big consequences when the snowpack is so thin. In general, access is unusually difficult this December. You'll find no snow at many trailheads and sno-parks. 

On December 7th, I set out for a driving tour of the East South zone. In general, I found very little to no snow below 5000 ft. Between 5 and 6000 ft, the snowpack is lean and will likely wash away with all the rainfall. Above 6000 ft, a much more consistent and connected snowpack exists. In typical Cascade fashion, I found a thicker, more desirable snowpack closer to the Cascade Crest than areas further east. We'll have to see what's left of this already struggling snowpack once these warm storms are wrapped up.

With the warm start to the 25-26 winter season, we have less snowpack information than usual to start daily forecast operations. For zones and elevation bands with less snow than needed for avalanche hazard, we will issue a forecast with No Rating. Anticipated avalanche and weather conditions will still be updated daily. NWAC will issue an avalanche danger rating for a zone when enough snow to produce avalanches has accumulated at middle and upper elevations.