Avalanche forecast

Olympics

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

Mild temperatures paired with sun breaks on Saturday will keep small wet loose avalanches front and center.  Avoid very steep slopes above terrain traps if you find yourself sinking into heavy wet snow.  

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    Temperatures will stay above freezing Friday night and Saturday.  If the sun pops out Saturday, you may see snow shedding below steep rocky faces. You're likely to spot pinwheels, rollerballs and small wet loose avalanches from the last 2 days. 

    The problem should be straight forward to manage; stay safe by avoiding very steep slopes near terrain traps where you find yourself sinking into heavy snow deeper than your ankles or see evidence of recent wet loose activity.  These slides are likely to be small but can be powerful and knock you off your feet. 

    Wet loose avalanches become more consquential near terrain traps. 

    Photo: Matt Primomo

Avalanche Discussion

On Friday, NPS rangers observed rain to Hurricane Ridge in the morning along with some new rollerballs and small wet loose along the Hurricane Ridge Road cuts.  Periods of light rain, wind, and rising temperatures continued during the day. 

Before the warm-up NPS staff and NWAC observers poked around the Hurricane Ridge area on Thursday.  While our Cascadian neighbors to the east experienced more extreme cold and winter weather over the work week, the Olympics saw milder temperatures and less new snowfall. They found evidence of last week's N-NE winds and more recently S-SW winds, with small cornices and wind slabs along both sides of ridgelines.  Snow fell at low elevations, but temperatures near the freezing mark limited drifting and led to small wet loose avalanches along steep road cuts.  While visibility was poor, they found stable conditions in the Maggies area of Hurricane Ridge. NE lees aspects held a relatively deeper snowpack around 4.5' (140cm) while W aspects had less than 3' (80cm). 

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