Avalanche forecast

East Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

If you travel near the tops of the higher peaks, keep an eye out for pockets of wind-loaded snow. Be leery of these firm pillow-like drifts on steep high consequence slopes. With the recent easterly winds, you may find them in some unusual locations.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    There was just enough snow this past weekend to blow around and create an avalanche concern on a few wind-loaded features, especially at upper elevations. While these slabs shouldn’t be very thick, they could still pose a danger to you if they knock you off your feet in high-consequence terrain. What’s tricky about these potential slabs, is they were formed by easterly winds. This is opposite from the more normal prevailing direction and frequently produces irregular loading patterns. So, you’ll need to look slope by slope to see if the terrain in front of you could hold a wind slab. Simple clues like textured surfaces and sharp drifts point towards possibly wind-loaded slopes. Be leery of these areas when you see firm pillow-like drifts. 

    (2/22/2022)

    A small shooting crack in a wind-loaded pocket near treeline. These are the types of pillow-like drifts than can produce wind slab avalanches. 

    Photo: Shane Robinson

Avalanche Discussion

It looks like we’re in for another frigid start to the day Thursday. While you may find very cold temperatures, mostly cloudy skies, and moderate winds to start, things should change as the day progresses. By the afternoon slightly warmer temperatures, more sunshine, and lighter winds could make for a gorgeous day. 

This past weekend’s storm didn’t provide much new snow in the East South zone. An NWAC forecaster near Rimrock Lake (Hwy 12) on Tuesday found only a dusting of snow at mid and lower elevations. It's possible that areas near the American River and Bumping Lake received more during the storm, but even still, these meager totals likely did very little to improve travel conditions. The recent prolonged dry and often warm weather really took its toll on the snowpack. At lower elevations, much of the snow melted back to bare ground making access challenging in some parts of the zone. Similarly, shallow spots in the snowpack on more southerly slopes and near ridges shrunk exposing rocks, trees, and dirt. Fortunately, the snowpack increases dramatically as you ascend in elevation on more shaded terrain. It’s in these mid and upper elevations shaded areas that you might find weak layers within the snowpack. Numerous crusts and sugary facets have been observed at nearby Crystal Mt and White Pass. However, at the moment, they don’t have much of a slab above them and we don’t expect any avalanches on older snow layers. 

Regions covered