Avalanche Forecast

Shallow new wind slab may form on lee slopes near and above treeline Sunday night and Monday morning. 

Generally small loose wet avalanches are possible at lower elevations in steep terrain.  Be especially careful of even small loose wet avalanches around terrain traps. 

The recent warm weather has melted much of the early season snowpack and exposed terrain hazards. Expect terrain hazards with poorly covered rocks, vegetation and creeks, particularly on south-facing terrain, at lower elevations, and on exposed ridges where wind events have stripped much of the seasons snowcover.

A series of mild storm systems left the Hurricane Ridge area with dust on crust Saturday morning and again on Sunday morning. The high pressure system that was in place from December 3 through December 14 created a variety of snow surfaces. However, light rain fell at Hurricane Ridge on Friday before temperatures cooled and re-froze the snowpack. The main effect of the light rain was to destroy any remaining weak surface hoar or near surface facets that may have persisted on northerly aspects. 

The sunny weather prior to our recent storm revealed vastly more snow free areas, especially on solar aspects and anywhere near ridgelines. The most consistent snowpack remains on shaded northerly aspects below any ridgelines where the snowpack height averages about 3-4 feet.

Below the upper dust on crust lies stable and settled old snow which sits over the strong Thanksgiving crust about 1 foot below the surface. 

No human-triggered avalanches have been reported in well over a week. 

Observations

NWAC Professional Observer Matt Schonwald was in the Hurricane Ridge area on Friday, December 15th. The big takeaway is the dramatic difference the snowpack has undergone over the past 12 days of high pressure, sunshine and very mild temperatures. The average height of snow on shaded slopes near treeline away from ridges is consistently between 3-4 feet deep. There were no avalanche concerns in the overall strong snowpack, where it remained!