Natural and human-triggered storm slabs are likely today and tomorrow above tree line. Significant new snow in the past 24-48 hours needs time to bond to the old snow interfaces before riders should consider "stepping out" on slopes greater than 30 degrees. You may encounter wind slabs forming in the alpine on a variety of aspects, but primarily SE facing slopes. Increase your margins for the next couple of days, as triggering a storm slab could initiate a fracture deep into the Mid November Facets and Solstice Rain crust in the Northern Wallowas.
Storm slabs will be sensitive for the next 24 hours, on all aspects and elevations on slopes >30 degrees. The snowpack doesn't like sudden change, and right now there's a lot of new snow.
(2/15/2021) null
This problem is specifically for the Northern Wallowas. Every time we add a significant load to the snowpack, we need to re-engage with our snowpack structure and how poor it is at the bottom of the snowpack. Triggering the Mid-November facets or Solstice rain crust would lead to an unsurvivable avalanche in most situations. We cannot rule out this avalanche problem on all aspects near and above the treeline where the snowpack is thinner above these nasty basal weak layers.
The Wallowas are not going to see the snowpocalypse conditions the Blues and Elkhorns are receiving. 1-3" today will keep the stability slightly more manageable, but you could easily have a really bad day if you trigger a storm slab. Making smart travel decisions is key when the danger is high or considerable. Stick to slopes <30 degrees, stay on high terrain features (ridges) and avoid steep convex rolls, especially above terrain traps.
