Hatcher Pass

The avalanche danger is LOW at all elevations. 

A storm over the past several days brought a brief return to winter, with 5 inches of new snow this week and strong winds. 

The possibility exists for triggering a wet loose sluff if the sun pops out or a small lingering wind slab. 

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The last forecast of the season will be tomorrow, Sunday, April 20th with an additional Spring Outlook the following week. We will continue to publish observations as long as they are submitted.  Thank you for submitting obs this season! Please consider donating to support HPAC!

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This week has been more stormy, cloudy, humid, and windy than many days this season.  It feels like winter and spring are duking it out over who will win.  This week brought 3" of new snow on the 16/17th and 2" overnight, totalling 5" new with 0.7" SWE at 3550'.  Despite strong winds earlier in the week, conditions have slightly improved. Firm conditions and bare ground still exist in much of the forecast area. Low angle protected terrain should harness the best snow today.  Expect moist snow surfaces.  Timing will be the name of the game today.   

Triggering an avalanche today is unlikely, with normal caution advised. Below are a couple problems to be aware of:

WET LOOSE AVALANCHES:  5" of new snow from the last few days is moist, and sitting on firm crusts that will easily sluff.  Temperatures will be slow to rise today, especially above 3500'.  However, as soon as the temperature rises above freezing and the sun pops out, expect to see small natural wet loose sluffs and be able to human trigger small sluffs on all aspects 40 degrees and steeper.  If the snow becomes unsupportable and unstable, seek lower angle terrain. Rollerballs and pinwheels are obvious precursors to wet loose avalanches.  

LINGERING WIND SLAB: Strong winds on Wednesday and Thursday gusted SE 49-73 mph for nearly 24 hours at 4500', transporting all new and old available snow to leeward aspects above 2500'.  On Friday, we could see clear and obvious wind loaded features with smooth, rounded and lens shaped features.  Warmer weather and 48 hours since we experienced extreme gusts have allowed the snowpack time to heal.  Additionally, snow pit tests showed good strength and low propagation potential on Friday.  Expect wind slabs to be stubborn and unlikely, but not impossible to trigger today on west to northeast aspects above 2500' on isolated terrain features. 

CORNICES: With ambient temperatures rising combined with significant green housing today, it will become more likely that cornices begin to break off and become more of a hazard in the coming days and weeks.  Cornices are unpredictable.  Give cornices a wide berth and be conservative with your uptracks and approach by limiting time near, underneath, and around them. 

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RECENT AVALANCHES: No new slab avalanches have been observed or reported this week. A few small natural wet loose avalanches were observed on Friday.