Avalanche forecast

East Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

For Friday, expect continued mild temperatures with clouds and light precipitation. Avoid traveling below or on large cornices and watch for isolated drifting snow above treeline. You may find a weak and shallow snowpack in the eastern mountains.

Avalanche problems

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    Large cornices could fall, triggered by ongoing warm temperatures. Falling cornices could easily be big enough to injure you. They could also trigger avalanches that wouldn't otherwise be an issue. Stay out from under and well away from cornices. Be aware of cornices on overhead slopes and make sure not to stop under them. If you're traveling on a ridge, check that you're standing above part of the mountain and not on unsupported snow. Clues like exposed rocks and vegetation can tell you where you can travel without being on an overhung cornice. Some minor drifting may have occurred above treeline since Monday. Any recent slabs would be very small and isolated.

    An example of cornices and wind-loaded slopes.

Avalanche Discussion

Quiet and warm weather has been the norm for the past week. For Friday, cloudy skies will cut down on the warming of snow surfaces. Light precipitation may fall as rain up to 4,000ft, maintaining moist snow at low elevations. Observers continue to report large to very large avalanches that ran around February 22nd due to heavy snow and wind. Unlike zones to the south, it appears that most of those avalanches involved more recent storm layers in the upper snowpack.

Persistent slab avalanches are unlikely but not impossible. You may encounter persistent weak layers in areas with a snowpack of five feet or less such as the eastern mountains around the tributaries of the Chewuch and Twisp River drainages. Check out this observation from Wolf Creek last week. Other forecast zones have been plagued with very large and destructive avalanches in the past 1-2 weeks. Be sure to check out the forecast for the East Central zone if you are traveling to the southern or eastern edge of this zone for more details on the mid-January crust/facet weak layer that's problematic there. 

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