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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 8th, 2015–Jan 9th, 2015

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Olympics.

The avalanche danger is low. Avoid steep sun exposed slopes if snow becomes wet in more than the top few inches; small wet loose slides could be problematic in isolated areas.

Detailed Forecast

A mild day with increasing mid and high level clouds is expected on Friday. Despite the high freezing levels, Friday should be relatively cooler than earlier in the week. Increased cloud cover should also minimize the loose wet avalanche problems even on steep solar aspects. 

Remember that areas with shallow snow may become unstable first or may initiate from rocks or vegetation. Avoid steep sun exposed slopes when snow becomes wet in more than the top few inches.

As a general backcountry travel safety note, watch for terrain hazards (exposed rocks, trees, streams, etc) at lower elevations and on wind scoured aspects. On non-solar aspects with a slick and supportable crust, take extra caution when traversing steep slopes and be prepared to self-arrest if necessary.  

Snowpack Discussion

Hurricane Ridge saw some light snow Sunday before receiving roughly 2 inches of rain Sunday night and Monday.

This may have produced avalanches in some higher elevation areas of the Olympics with sufficient snow cover.

Sunny and unseasonably warm weather continued in the Olympics and Cascades through mid-week. In the Olympics this should be causing draining, consolidation, stabiilzing and a resetting of the upper or entire snowpack.

NWAC observer Tyler Reid at Hurricane Wednesday reported that what snow was left was wet and consolidated and consisted of rounds and melt forms.

While the weather has been pleasant, ski conditions have generally been reported as poor over the last few days.

Problems

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.