Olympics

Use normal caution when traveling in or near avalanche terrain. Stay on the lookout for pockets of wind-drifted snow in alpine terrain and snow shedding from cliffs at mid-elevations. The decrease in snow cover has made getting around the mountains more complicated with lots of open water, bare ground, and other hazards at or near the snow surface.

NWAC observers and NPS rangers confirmed that the mountains took a big step back towards November-like conditions this week. The snowline is about 4200' on north aspects around Hurricane Ridge. South aspects have patchy or simply no snow cover, even at upper elevations.  A crust - sometimes supportable, sometimes not - is forming at the snow surface as lowering temperatures start to firm up a snowpack that is moist from the surface to the ground. There were no signs of new or recent avalanche activity. Snow showers are beginning to bring traces of white back to the mountains. A dusting to a few inches of new snow should not be enough to drive an increase in the avalanche hazard over the weekend.  

Temperatures finally fell below freezing after a week of warmth and rain. The Hurricane Ridge weather station recorded above-freezing temperatures for most of the week back to Jan 26th.  A total of  2.68” of rain fell in the same time period. Snow surveys from the Park and also from NWAC's bi-monthly snow depth climatology report paint a picture of a snowpack between 20-30% of normal.  The current snowpack is the 5th lowest in the last 75 years.

Be prepared for off-trail travel to have an extra adventure element with intermittent snow cover, open creeks, trees, rocks, etc. Carry the proper tools to self-arrest a fall if traveling in alpine terrain or anywhere firm and slick crusts could increase the consequences of a fall.

NWAC may issue a gray "No Rating" for an elevation band when there is not enough snow to present an avalanche hazard.