East Slopes South

Avalanche hazard is generally safe in East South. If you encounter more than an inch or two of new snow at upper elevations, look for signs that there are small slabs of wind drifted snow in downwind terrain. Lower elevations lack sufficient snow coverage for avalanche hazard to exist at this time.

Tuesday's storm overproduced across the forecast region. The Bumping Ridge weather station reported 1.4 inches of precipitation as of Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, it's unlikely any of this precip fell as snow in East South. Some cloud clearing overnight on Tuesday will help refreeze surfaces.

Freezing levels are dropping Tuesday night, and a little bit of snow (yes, really!) will fall at upper elevations. It's unlikely there will be enough to form new snow avalanche problems, but it's going to be a windy day. If you are in exposed terrain and seeing snow blowing around, look for signs of wind slab development. Textured and uneven surfaces and a change to denser feeling snow are easy visual and tactile clues to look out for. A small avalanche is unlikely to bury you, but dial it back if you don't want to trigger one and see shooting cracks from your equipment or recent slab avalanches.

Prior to this most recent storm, layers of snow wetted by rainstorms last week refroze, forming strong surface crusts. Below the crust, moisture still lingers within the snowpack. It's unlikely this last bout of rain was enough to permeate through such thick crusts. Any wet slab avalanches would be quite unexpected, but if you find you are able to sink deeply through old, moist snow, consider some probability of this problem existing. 

Take your time as you travel around. Open creeks, holes, dirt, downed logs, rocks, etc., are easily found throughout terrain. Where there is snow, surfaces could be firm, rough, and unforgiving.

Last week’s rainstorms decimated the East South snowpack. You can still find rideable snow at mid and upper elevations. Below 5,000 ft, snow coverage is too limited for avalanche danger at this time—so we’re issuing a No Rating for lower elevations.

Are you heading out? Let us know what you see by submitting a public observation here or on the AvyApp.