Olympics

Mostly cloudy skies and moderate winds could make it hard for the snow surface to significantly soften on Thursday. Instead, you’ll probably spend most of your time navigating variable snow conditions and exposed obstacles.

Thursday’s weather likely won’t help the travel conditions in the Olympics. The recent warm and sunny weather put the snow surface through multiple melt-freeze cycles, especially on southerly slopes. Unfortunately, the “melt” part of that process took its toll on the snowpack. Many shallow spots near ridges and cliffs melted back to bare ground. During the same time, the snowpack slowly but steadily shrank exposing creeks, rocks, and trees. It also created a wide variety of surfaces including icy slopes, wet heavy snow, breakable crusts, pockets of powder, and frozen wind features. A recent storm on Valentine’s Day brought little more than a dusting of snow to Hurricane Ridge and 1-3 inches elsewhere in the range. 

Mostly cloudy skies and moderate winds will work to prevent the sun from thawing the snow surface Thursday. However, if significant sun breaks occur, look for softer snow on steep slopes receiving direct sunshine. At this point, the snow has seen several rounds of sun and it will take a lot to push it past its tipping point. However, if you see new rollerballs anticipate loose wet avalanches on similar slopes. 

If there is a silver lining from the recent weather pattern it's that it created a very well settled and strong snowpack. While you may find weak structure deeper in the snow, the firm surface crust should help prevent any avalanches on these deeper layers. At the moment, we expect any avalanche actively to occur at or above the Valentine’s Day crust. 

A weather pattern change is heading our way this weekend. You can help us by sending your observations and photos of the current surface snow. Today’s surface may be tomorrow’s weak layer. Thanks for your support!

2021-22 Forecast Schedule: Avalanche danger ratings will be issued for the Olympics every Friday through Sunday and during mid-week holidays. During the week when the Hurricane Ridge road is closed, forecast information will be updated daily to include expected conditions and relevant travel advice under the No Rating label.