Avalanche forecast

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

Areas near the crest may pick up a few inches of new snow, and winds will continue to build stiff slabs of snow on lee aspects. You may be able to trigger avalanches in this wind drifted snow at upper elevations. Avalanches may be easier to trigger on northern and eastern aspects, where slabs formed over weak snow grains. Travel cautiously and make observations before committing to steep terrain in wind-affected areas. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    With additional snow in the forecast and plenty of snow available for transport at upper elevations, winds will continue to distribute snow to lee aspects. While you may find winds slabs on all aspects, on northerly aspects at higher elevations, they have formed over faceted snow (March 8th) and may be more sensitive to triggering. Forecaster, Matt Primomo, found this weak structure buried about 12 inches deep in the Icicle Creek drainage on Wednesday at around 6700ft. While the recent snow didn't seem reactive in wind-sheltered terrain, wind-loaded lee aspects with stiff slabs could potentially produce large avalanches. Use visual clues such as cornice formations and surface texture to identify wind-affected terrain.Observations from these upper elevations are limited, but what we have seen suggests that the sensitivity of this layer may vary significantly throughout the terrain. Therefore, adjacent slopes may react differently, and it may not be the first person on the slope who triggers an avalanche. The best way to avoid being surprised by one of these avalanches is to stick to wind-sheltered areas or lower angle slopes in high elevation, northern and eastern aspects. Always look for signs of instability such as shooting cracks, collapsing, or recent avalanche activity. These are all bullseye signs of an unstable slope. You can also dig down quickly to observe if the snow slides easily off the crust and look for weak snow above the crust. If the snow easily slides on the crust, you find it weak snow, or see other signs of instability stick to conservative terrain with lower angle slopes.

    (3/16/2022)

    Wind slab in high elevation terrain in the Icicle Creek drainage.

    Photo: Matt Primomo

Avalanche Discussion

For most of the eastern slopes of the Cascades, it will be a cloudy day with moderate winds. However, some precipitation may spill over to the east slopes near the crest from a quickly passing cold front. While we haven't experienced many big storms recently, a trickle in pattern has continuously brought smaller amounts of snow to the western portion of the East Central zone. After Saturday's storm, there may be nearly 2 ft of snow overlying weak faceted snow at upper elevations on northern and eastern aspects. Stability throughout the zone will vary significantly with aspect, elevation, and distance from the Cascade crest. Keep this variability in mind as you travel and monitor the new snow depth over the Early March Crust. If you find more than 8 inches of snow over the crust, it will be worth digging down to identify any weak snow layers. Although avalanche activity on the March 8th facets currently seems to be isolated to areas where the wind has drifted the snow into deeper slabs, it could become a more widespread problem with additional snow. Various challenging surface conditions exist at lower elevations, such as shallowly buried avalanche debris and thin snow cover. Unfortunately, the warm temperatures associated with the storm kept new snow accumulations minimal at elevations below 4500ft, and lower elevations conditions did not improve significantly. A widespread avalanche cycle occurred throughout the Cascades on the 28th-March 1st and left plenty of large piles of debris to navigate.

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