Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Another round of a spring heat wave is coming in strong this weekend. Crusts will break down very quickly on the southern half of the compass, and snow will get wet, and you can expect to see wet avalanches running. Avoid steep slopes and traveling beneath them when they start getting wet and mushy, or if you see any avalanche activity. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    Snow will quickly get wet on steep east-facing slopes in the morning, shifting more southerly midday, and then west-facing slopes in the afternoon. Make a plan to avoid these steep slopes and terrain beneath them once the intense sun starts cooking them. Shift to lower-angle terrain, away from steep overhead slopes, or to shadier aspects.   

    Sky cover was extremely variable on Friday, with intense sun causing some wet loose activity already. Other locations may have remained more wintery, still hanging on to cold, dry snow. The initial wetting of cold, dry snow is when you can expect to see the most avalanche activity. We expect wet activity to continue, although possibly not as active as the initial day of wetting, as temperatures are warmer and more sunlight is expected on Saturday. 

    (3/29/2024)

    Greenhouse conditioquickly produced rollers and wet loose avalanches in some areas of the West North zone  on Friday.

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Subtle shallow wind slabs may still react to a human trigger, predominantly at upper elevations. Slabs that just start to get moist may avalanche with a human trigger as well. These thicker deposits will likely remain small, but even a small slide could still cause harm or kill you if you're in exposed high-consequence terrain, like areas above cliffs or rocks, trees and gullies.

    Search for wind-textured surfaces, or slightly stiffer feeling snow. This may be a very slight difference from non wind-affected snow. They are more likely to be found in small gullies and tight features rather than on broad slopes. Any weaknesses are probably shallow, so you can use your hand to dig down and see if there are any failure planes in the new snow layers. You probably won't see any slab avalanche activity in areas where there's a crust on the surface. 

    (3/26/2024)

    Shallow wind slabs were easily isolated on Tuesday in the Highway 2 corridor. You may still be able to find them on Saturday. Photo: Irene Henninger

Avalanche Discussion

Considering the variable weather and snow conditions on Friday, different areas in the zone will act differently on Saturday. Some slopes will be seeing their first round of warming on previously cold snow. In other areas, the sun or greenhousing may have already cooked a slope, and you may not see as much avalanche activity, at least to start. Some or all aspects could be crusty, and any north-facing crusts may not break down during the day. 

At mid and upper elevations, 1-2 feet of snow sits over the mid-March crust. At upper elevations, that crust is hard and thick, whereas at mid elevations and southerly slopes it may be softer and thinner. Many spots in the Lower Elevation band may not have enough snow for you to see much avalanche activity. Near the top of the band, and other spots with a deeper snowpack, wet avalanche activity could still happen. 

This is an awesome weekend to get out in the backcountry. Wet loose avalanche activity is at least fairly predictable, so when temperatures start soaring and slopes start getting wet you can expect that avalanche activity may follow, and it's a good time to relocate. There's also many thin snow hazards, like obvious or sneakily hidden holes in the snow that might swallow you if you misstep. 

Your avalanche, snowpack, or weather observations are extremely valuable to the avalanche community. Help create a more accurate avalanche forecast by submitting your observations HERE. 

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