Avalanche forecast

West Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

A potent storm will move in overnight bringing another round of heavy snow and strong winds. Anticipate poor visibility, stormy conditions, and elevated avalanche danger through the morning. Avoid steep, open slopes and start your day in simple, sheltered areas until the storm winds down.

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

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

    You are more likely to trigger a fresh slab on slopes accumulating wind-drifted snow. But the quantity of new snow means you should assess stability in sheltered areas as well. Lower elevation areas should have less new snow. Blowing and drifting snow will show you which slopes hold thicker, more sensitive slabs.

    Use a ski pole or simply dig down with your hand as you gain elevation and change aspects to look for differences in new snow depth and stiffness. More snow, denser snow, or bigger differences in hardness between layers?  More likely you will trigger an avalanche on similar slopes that are steep enough to slide.

    Look for instability using test slopes, hand shears, and other simple tests. Shooting cracks are a sign you could trigger an avalanche if you head onto a steep slope. When in doubt just stick to simpler, sheltered, lower-angle terrain.

    Steep, freshly wind-loaded terrain like this is where you would most likely trigger an avalanche on Tuesday.

     

Avalanche Discussion

Observers reported a general lack of dry snow at mid and lower elevations on Monday. It was easy to get wet snow moving down the hill and rollerballs were observed below steep rocky or treed terrain. Expect similar conditions on Tuesday. Be ready to navigate wet snow instability, especially if the snow level creeps up higher than forecast. Avoid travel on or immediately below steep slopes where you see fresh rollerballs and new avalanches, or simply find wet, mushy snow. Afternoon sunbreaks could further provoke wet avalanches on slopes facing the sun.

Conditions varied greatly in the forecast zones around West Central, and sometimes there were even big differences in side a single forecast zone. Clouds at lower elevations contrasted with sun at upper elevations in West North. In some areas, signs of instability were minimal, while others had a combination of wet snow instability and large avalanches in dry, wind drifted snow at upper elevations triggered by avalanche control work. 

On Monday, an NWAC forecaster at Stevens Pass reported natural wind slabs that ran overnight and wet loose avalanches off the steep rocky terrain of the SW face of Lichtenberg. Other observers in this area reported triggering a shallow wind slab that propagated widely around terrain features on a north aspect. This avalanche failed on a mid-storm interface and did not step down to the Solstice Crust.  

Regions covered