East Slopes South

Triggering an avalanche on Wednesday remains unlikely. As new snow starts trickling in, you could come across small slabs of drifted snow in wind-exposed terrain during the afternoon, but these should stay small and isolated. Your bigger hazard will continue to be rough travel conditions and long, sliding falls on firm snow. 

After a dry stretch of weather, the East South will finally start seeing some very light precipitation fall across the mountains. Unfortunately, it won’t be enough to really improve the rough travel conditions, but it may be just enough to create some thin wind slabs in exposed terrain further west in the zone - especially as the week progresses. If you see blowing snow, be most suspicious of these slabs in steep complex terrain where a small avalanche could push you into unwanted terrain.  As snow continues to fall later this week on a warming trend, some slabs could trigger easily if they form over near-surface facets or slick crusts. 

It’s going to take more than a few inches to improve the rough travel conditions that currently exists across the advisory area. Continue to give yourself plenty of time to approach and exit the mountains, and equip yourself for firm snow travel. There have been several long, sliding fall accidents across the Cascades and Mt Hood these past weeks, which should serve as a reminder to have the proper gear (crampons, ice axe, and helmet) and be mindful of the consequences of a slip in steep terrain.

As you’d expect, the snowpack is very aspect-dependent after the January drought. Most aspects that still have snow (E-S-W) have been through a solid melt-freeze cycle for over two weeks now. In these areas, expect a melt-freeze crust that will vary in thickness depending on elevation and aspect. Northerly aspects are a mix of thin, decomposing crusts, near-surface faceted snow, and old firm drifted snow. Low elevations have struggled to build a snowpack and consist of bareground or shallow coverage.