Avalanche forecast

Olympics

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

There's still plenty of water draining through the snowpack in the Olympics. While that generally leads to improving stability, that rainwater will continue to lubricate smooth bedrock or grassy slopes where glide avalanches remain possible. Don't linger on the slopes below brown frowns.

Avalanche problems

  • Glide Cracks

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    The risk of glide avalanches will increase with the snowpack's depth and the amount of recent rainfall but will be limited to specific terrain features. In the Hurricane Ridge area, this problem may be more isolated than in other parts of the range where the snowpack is deeper and recent rainfall rates have been high. Regardless, poorly supported terrain features, unsupported chunks of snow that could fall, and rollovers in the terrain should be treated with suspicion. Limit your exposure to these features, particularly brown frowns if you find them. If you find evidence of glide avalanches or multiple cracks in the snowpack of your local terrain, the problem could be locally more elevated. 

    If you find snow that you sink into past your ankle, your risk of triggering a small wet loose avalanche increases on slopes steeper than 35 degrees. Move to more supportable slopes or reduce your slope angle.

    (12/18/2024)

    Glide cracks and poorly supported wet snow on steep, rocky features.  These are the types of slopes you want to stay out from underneath.

    Photo: Irene Henninger

Avalanche Discussion

With additional rainfall Thursday night and Friday, don't expect much change in the avalanche danger over the next 24 hours.

A lot has changed since last weekend in the Olympics. The good news is that shaded aspects haven't lost a lot of snow depth above 4500 ft. These areas still have around 4 ft of snowpack. The upper snowpack is well-drained and wet, with more limited structural differentiation. Below 4500 ft, snowpack is nearly non-existent in the trees, open meadows have less than a foot of snow and are melting out in places. The lack of snowpack limits avalanche concerns significantly at these elevations. South-facing slopes have even more areas melted out to the ground.

NPS Rangers witnessed the impacts of a widespread wet avalanche cycle from earlier in the week. Most of these avalanches were small, initiating from rollerballs or snow falling off trees, rocks, or cliffs. Larger avalanche activity may become apparent with more visibility. The upper snowpack has consolidated and mostly healed following since Tuesday's dry to wet snow transition that resulted from around 2" of liquid water at Hurricane Ridge. 

The danger in many areas feels "low", but wet avalanche problems generally come with uncertainty, and glide avalanches tend to be large enough to harm you, so treat them with respect. It may be hard to trigger a wet loose avalanche unless you find an area where the snowpack is poorly drained and "manky."

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