Avalanche forecast

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Use general caution, and be mindful of softening snow on steep slopes early in the day, and wind drifting in the alpine later. Theres a chance that wet loose slides become possible on slopes that receive direct sun by mid morning. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    We're in for another warm day, and expect the sun to warm snow surfaces on East to south aspects with daytime warming. The warm temperatures should melt snow surfaces that receive direct sun, and theres a chance that loose wet slides become possible in very steep terrain by mid morning. Large, steep open slopes lined with rocks are one of the places you could see these occur. You can also trigger these small, slow-moving avalanches that have a knack for grabbing your feet, skis, or machine and pulling you downhill. Snow falling from trees (tree bombs), wet snow surfaces, and rollerballs, are some signs that wet loose avalanches are becoming possible. 

    You could find small windslabs forming in the alpine, especially later in the day as the winds ramp up on Thursday. Look for drifting snow or cracking of wind stiffened surfaces to clue you into wind slab dangers.

    Wet loose avalanches often begin in steep rocky terrain like in this photo.

    Photo: Katie Warren

Avalanche Discussion

On Wednesday, NWAC forecaster Katie Warren went for a tour near Hex Mountain in the lower Salmon la Sac. She found that warming temperatures were competing with a breeze to slowly soften snow surfaces. She was able to initiate small wet loose slides on steep slopes in the sun.

We've been tracking a layer of buried surface hoar from January 4th that has caused numerous human triggered and widely propagating avalanches over the past month. On Tuesday, I went to the Entiat River Drainage to investigate. I found the layer to be consistent throughout the terrain, and was producing sudden collapse test results. A crust from MLK weekend caps this layer, and in most places it's fairly stout. However in some areas in the Entiat I found it to be quite thin. This leads us to believe there could be some very isolated areas where triggering an avalanche on this persistent layer remains possible. The last reported avalanche on this layer was on the 19th on the east side of the Stevens Pass zone on an East aspect at 6,200ft. You should still consider digging down to identify this layer if traveling in sheltered northerly aspects near and above treeline, especially if you find a thin or non-existent crust about 1ft down. 

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