East Slopes Central

Wet snow hazard is a concern where continuous snow coverage exists and where pockets of snow loiter overhead. Be aware of your surroundings and don't linger in wet, unsupportable snow or underneath steep features that could shed wet snow. Anticipate difficult access and non-avalanche problems such as flooding and exposed hazards.

After a double whammy of historic atmospheric river events, the zone has suffered significant snow loss. Since early Monday morning, weather stations on the western side of the zone collected close to 10 inches of precipitation, mostly in the form of rain. That is a truly jaw-dropping amount of liquid. Furthermore, it was very windy Wednesday night into Thursday. Mission Ridge had a max gust of 112 mph on Wednesday night. There's carnage to show for it all. Flooding and downed trees have closed just about every mountain road, making access a major hurdle. Should you choose to embark on a journey to the backcountry and get into terrain with enough snow to recreate on, consider the following:

• Wet avalanches remain a concern. The already saturated snowpack will see a bit more rain on Thursday night. Consider any combination of wet loose, wet slab, cornice fall, and even small glide avalanches where smooth rock slabs exist beneath the shallow snowpack. Be very cognizant of sagging cornices and other overhead hazards; even a small glob of wet, heavy snow falling down from above could cause bodily harm.
• Areas further north in the zone may be holding onto snow a bit better. Keep this in mind as you gain elevation. If you find fresh, dry snow up high, consider the chance of wind slabs lingering on lee slopes. 
• Exposed hazards abound. Watch for shallowly buried rocks, trees, and high-flowing creeks. Recognize that even small slides can have big consequences when the snowpack is so thin.
• Be flexible, observant, and patient as you travel around. There is still much information to gather about how much this week's weather has impacted the zone, and now is probably not the time to push the limits.

With the warm start to the 25-26 winter season, we have less snowpack information than usual to start daily forecast operations. For zones and elevation bands with less snow than needed for avalanche hazard, we will issue a forecast with No Rating. Anticipated avalanche and weather conditions will still be updated daily. NWAC will issue an avalanche danger rating for a zone when enough snow to produce avalanches has accumulated at middle and upper elevations.