Olympics

Wet snow avalanche concerns will be front and center Tuesday with mild temperatures and potential sun in the forecast.  Loose wet avalanches may become large on slopes where they gouge down to deeper layers.  Stay off of and away from steep open slopes at mid and upper elevations.

We saw a slow warming trend along with light snowfall Monday at Hurricane Ridge as we transitioned away from the cooler weekend pattern.  Temperatures are forecast to stay above freezing Monday night through Tuesday and the sun is likely to make an appearance in the afternoon.  All this points toward an increased likelihood of wet snow avalanches.  

Stay off of steep slopes anywhere you find yourself sinking into wet punchy snow deeper than your ankle and move to simpler terrain.  In some areas, loose wet avalanches could become large if they gouge down and entrain deeper layers.  Think about the terrain you're connected to and limit your exposure to large avalanche paths as the day warms up or you see natural avalanches.  Late March sunshine means more aspects will be affected by the sun.  Cornices may fail and trigger avalanches on the slopes below.  Give them a wide berth if traveling along ridgelines.  

On Saturday Olympic National Park rangers reported boot top, unconsolidated new snow on sheltered aspects with 3” of wind affected snow over crust on southerly, windward slopes. The new snow was generally well bonded but very steep test slopes still produced shallow slabs. One small natural avalanche was observed in wind loaded terrain below a cornice in Maggies on an east aspect at 5400’.

2021-22 Forecast Schedule: Avalanche danger ratings will be issued for the Olympics every Friday through Sunday and during mid-week holidays. During the week when the Hurricane Ridge road is closed, forecast information will be updated daily to include expected conditions and relevant travel advice under the No Rating label.