Avalanche Forecast

A weather system passing into Oregon Thursday night should not produce any appreciable new snow for the Olympics and partly cloudy and cold conditions should be seen on Friday.  

Watch for isolated shallow settled wind or storm slab poorly bonded on top of a slick crust, mainly on non-solar aspects.  Small loose avalanches on steeper slopes are possible. 

 

A storm arrived at the end of January with rising snow levels and rain above 6000 feet for the Olympics before transitioning to snow and colder temperatures. Wind was less of a factor with this event with a more even distribution of storm snow and a general lack of wind slab.

Only light amounts from 1-3 inches of additional snow in showers has accumulated in early February. This has given several days for settlement and gradual stabilizing of avalanche layers.

NWAC observers Tyler and Katy Reid in the Hurricane Ridge Friday and over the weekend reported limited or minimal slab layers. New surface hoar growth up to 10 mm was observed well into the near-treeline zone (see photo below). Skiers triggered unconsolidated new snow into size 1-2 dry loose avalanches on north and west aspects. Large wet loose slides were reported around 6000 feet on the E-SE slopes of Mt. Angeles. No information has been received from the above treeline zone deeper in the Olympics. 

Recently surface hoar with graupel from showers on 1 February at Hurricane Ridge area, N aspect @ 5200 ft by Seth Waterfall.

Regionally the avalanche danger is lower near Hurricane Ridge than in the Washington Cascades where a more diverse snowpack exists. See the Cascades forecast if traveling there.

The mid and lower snowpack west of the crest consists mainly of crusts and melt form crystal layers which have generally not been reactive to to snow pit tests. Low snow amounts are limiting the avalanche danger on many south slopes and at low elevations due to terrain and vegetation anchors.