East Slopes North

Avalanches are unlikely. A weak storm will bring light snow to the mountains and eastern foothills. 

Check the new snow totals when you head into the mountains on Wednesday. We anticipate 2-3" of new snow at the most, and not enough to develop new avalanche problems. If you find more than this, consider that you may be in an area of heightened avalanche danger. East flow and an upslope storm is bringing light snow to the zone. This pattern is tricky to forecast. To the south, the East Central may pick up more significant accumulation. Warming and breaks in the clouds in the afternoon could moisten snowsurfaces and create rollerballs on steep slopes. 

On Monday, observers in the Kangaroo ridge area reported firm, wind affected surfaces at very high elevations with minor cracking. They also reported a slightly older and unique glide avalanche (see photo below). Little is know about the slide, but it may have occured during warm temperatures on Dec 29th-30th that moistend snow surfaces. Recently, observers have found soft, dry snow on sheltered, northerly slopes, with firmer surfaces in sun and wind-exposed terrain. On the 29th, observers in the Hairpin Valley reported moist snow and rollerballs at mid-elevations, with light rime where surfaces stayed cooler. Small, natural wind slab avalanches were reported from upper elevations on December 26th and 27th.

It's worth keeping in mind that observers have reported weak layer/crust combinations in the top foot of the snowpack near Washington Pass and Harts Pass. They've found little potential to trigger avalanches where the crusts are thick and the overlying snow is decently bonded. There's uncertainty where the crusts could be thinner and weak layers could be more pronounced, such as at upper elevations and east of the Cascade crest. Track how this upper snowpack evolves and keep an eye out for weak snow surfaces as we get as we get closer to any significant storm or loading event. For an idea of what you might find in you may find in the southern portion of this zone, like mid-Twisp River drainage, check out these observations from the Holden area.

You can help out by contributing to the forecast. Submit an observation, and let us know what you see!