Avalanche forecast

West Slopes South

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

While much of the snow is soft and playful, if you trigger an avalanche, it will most likely occur on a slope where the wind formed a slightly firmer and thicker drift. You may find wind-loaded slopes near ridges, the base of cliffs, or exposed gullies. With so many trees and rocks still exposed, early-season travel conditions could be your greatest hazard.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Most of the upper snowpack is light fluffy right-side-up powder. So, if you’re going to encounter a slab avalanche, it will likely be on a feature where the wind formed slightly firmer drifts. However, a few inches of snow may hide some of the common wind-textured surfaces. So, you’ll need to look closely for clues like snow blown out of trees or fresh cornices to help identify which slopes could hold wind slabs. You may also feel the firm snow underneath you as you travel to indicate possibly wind-loaded areas. Since we’re expecting these slides to be generally small, you can simply steer around steep potentially wind-loaded features such as the base of cliffs, sides of exposed gullies, or corniced ridgelines. 

    Outside of wind-affected areas, you may trigger small loose dry avalanches on very steep slopes. While sluffs aren’t often a  big hazard, with so many exposed obstacles, even a tiny slide could carry you through rocks and trees.

    (11/28/2022) Snow (or lack there of) in the trees can serve as a great clue to help you locate potentially wind loaded slopes. Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

Tuesday should provide a brief break in the active weather pattern for the West South zone. While you may see a few light showers, the lack of additional snow should allow the avalanche danger to remain largely unchanged. Instead, you’ll face VERY cold temperatures. Make sure to bring plenty of clothes to stay warm while you travel and to deal with any unforeseen issues or emergencies. 

The snowpack continues to grow across the mountains. Weather stations reported 6-10 inches of light fluffy snow Sunday night and Monday. This adds to the upper snowpack where generally 12-24 inches of snow now sits over the 11/22 rain crust at mid-elevations. While, you may notice some storm interfaces, generally the top 1-2 ft of snow is right-side-up and lacks widespread weaklayers. 

On Monday, an NWAC forecaster at White Pass was able to intentionally trigger several small loose dry avalanches in the new snow. Only one of these sluffs tried to propagate out into a very soft storm slab. Notably, each of these avalanches traveled to near the bottom of the path. 

As we continue to build a snowpack, remember, early-season travel conditions may pose the greatest risk. Open creeks, holes near rocks, and exposed bushes could all end your snow season early. Give yourself time to navigate through these often thinly covered obstacles.

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