Central Cascades

Problèmes avalancheux

• 

  Loose Wet

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Possible

  Taille

  1–1.5

  On Friday at Broken Top, there was an abundance of Wet Loose avalanche activity as 30+ cm of cold, recent storm snow received rapid warming through the morning and afternoon, with temperatures reaching the upper 40's in the bowl. There was one report of a natural wet loose avalanche in the 11 o'clock couloir that was triggered above two people ascending and took them on a ride for a few hundred feet. The more positive news is that the first rapid warm-up is now behind us, and clear skies through the night on Friday should allow for a decent overnight freeze of any previously wet snow surfaces. While this should all result in relatively less wet loose activity on Saturday, there is even warmer temperatures forecasted for the day, so it won't take long for the sun to de-stabilize solar slopes. It will take a few days of melt-freeze cycles before we transition from "hot pow" to more pleasant and stable spring diurnal conditions (i.e. corn skiing).

  As we head deeper into the Spring, NW and NE aspects are starting to experience solar effect and could also start producing wet avalanches. As a slope's exposure to the sun increases, the snow stability decreases. Pay attention to any active roller balling, or slushy snow that penetrates above boot top to better understand when and where this problem is present. While these wet avalanches will mostly be small, they can carry significant force and have higher consequence in the presence of terrain traps. If you notice any of the aforementioned warning signs, seek shadier slopes or lower angle terrain.

  

• 

  Wind Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Possible

  Taille

  1–2

  Warm temperatures and a couple days of calm to light winds are resulting in Thursday's wind slabs trending towards stabilizing, as they become more stubborn and less reactive to triggering. Wind drifted terrain features at upper elevations are where it remains possible to trigger these lingering wind slabs. Trigger points are most likely to occur below ridges or on steep convex rollers. The storm snow of this week fell on top of a stout melt-freeze crust. Utilize this as a baseline measuring point to understand where deeper wind drifts exist on our terrain. Understand that deeper drifts could result in larger and more consequential avalanches.