East Slopes Central

Strong sun and warming temperatures may create loose wet avalanche danger in the afternoon. Use normal caution, and move off of steep slopes if you begin to sink into wet snow deeper than your ankle. Small and isolated wind slabs could be found in high, north-facing terrain.

The mountains in the East Central picked up about 1-3" of snow on Sunday night. For the most part, this was not enough new snow to create any avalanche danger. The new snow fell on well-developed crusts on east, south, and west aspects and all aspects at lower elevation. On north-facing slopes at upper elevation, it fell on weaker, near-surface faceted grains. Although the danger is Low, keep the following in mind:

1. Small loose wet avalanches could occur on Tuesday. If you find yourself sinking into wet snow deeper than about your ankle, it's time to move off of those aspects and seek out other slopes to ride on, or call it a day. Roller balls and wet, punchy snow are also signs that wet loose avalanches could run. Lower elevation, south facing slopes may become very weak with daytime warming, so plan to avoid those by around noon.

2. Small and shallow wind slabs may be found in alpine terrain. Steer around steeper, wind-loaded slopes if you find more than 4" or so of new snow and wind-thickened slabs. You are most likely to run into very small wind slabs on the high peaks in the area. 

3. Deep persistent slabs are dormant in the zone and we don't have any reports of deeper avalanches since March 3 (West South Zone). However, consequences of one of these avalanches could be high. A crust with facets on or within it from Mid-January was the primary weak layer in the area in February. The most suspect areas for a deep persistent slab are shallow, rocky and unsupported slopes. Steep, sunny slopes may be of less concern due to a thick melt-freeze crust near the surface.  A large cornice or rock fall could be the trigger needed for one of these avalanches. Stay aware of these overhead hazards during your travels. Recent observations from nearby zones speak of cornice fall in the past week. Be intentional about where and how you travel with this snowpack structure in place. You can find a wide range of conditions between mountains near the Cascade Crest and further east, with 8ft of snow over the crust/facet layer near the crest, to less than 3ft over this layer in the eastern Wenatchee Mountains.