Avalanche forecast

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

An additional few inches of snow and strong winds will likely build shallow wind-drifted slabs of snow where you could trigger an avalanche. Identify these stiff, textured, pillowlike drifts near ridges and steep rocky terrain. Use caution in very steep or consequential terrain, and you should steer around these stiff slabs if you see shooting cracks or other signs of instability. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    This storm will not likely bring significant snowfall to the East Central zone, but the few inches we get will quickly be drifted into shallow wind slabs by strong winds. New wind slabs will probably be small and isolated to steep terrain features at high elevations. However, even small avalanches could have high consequences in extreme terrain. Features such as steep ridgelines, confined terrain features, and the base of cliffs are probable locations to trigger one of these avalanches. Wind slabs can be identified by textured snow surfaces, actively blowing snow, and rounded pillowlike drifts. You can also use quick hand pits to identify stiff wind-deposited snow over softer layers. If stiff snow slides easily in hand pits or you observe signs of unstable snow such as shooting cracks, steer around steeper, more consequential features.

    (1/20/2023) Cracking and sliding of wind-deposited snow on a test slope like this is a sign of unstable wind slabs. Photo: Josh Hirshberg

Avalanche Discussion

We anticipate just a few inches of snow from this storm, but luckily the cold temperatures could result in high water-to-snow ratios, potentially producing a nice refresh of up to 4" of new snow.The last significant storm in the East Central area was over MLK weekend. This warm storm buried the 1/4 layer of surface hoar and created a now easily identifiable melt-freeze crust in the snowpack. While we are still tracking the 1/4 surface hoar layer, it is unlikely you could find a location to trigger an avalanche on this layer beneath the MLK crust. Subsequent small storms have since buried The MLK crust 1-2 feet deep in most areas. A thin layer of weak, faceted snow exists just above the MLK crust. So far, it has not proved reactive, but that could change with additional loading events. There have also been significant wind events, and observations from higher-elevation exposed terrain indicate stiff wind-affected surfaces on most aspects. The sun has also been a strong player for the last few days, and thick, icy crusts now exist on southern aspects. Therefore there are challenging travel conditions out there, so consider bringing appropriate equipment to travel safely on steep icy terrain.

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