Bulletin d’avalanche

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Thu
Alpin
3 · Marqué
Limite forestière
2 · Modéré
Sous la limite
2 · Modéré
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 3 years ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

Seven inches of rain fell since Monday, and a natural avalanche cycle occurred Monday night. Water is continuing to drain down through the snowpack. Lingering wet snow avalanches may still occur on Wednesday, so for one more day avoid spending time beneath avalanche paths. 

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Wet Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Likely
    Taille
    1.5–2.5

    Wet slab, glide, wet loose, and rock-and-dirt-alanches are lingering avalanche problems after the deluge we received Monday and Tuesday. Likelihood of an avalanche occurring has reduced, but especially at higher elevations there may still be large natural avalanche releases as water percolates down through the snowpack. Upper elevations had a larger and drier snowpack to start with so this is where we expect much of the lingering activity to happen. The snowpack shrunk extensively at the mid and lower elevations where nearly all of it was fully saturated with water.  For another day, avoid standing under avalanche paths, as there's a chance a large, destructive, dirty avalanche could still come down on you.

    (12/5/2023)

    Wet avalanches on a north aspect of Table Mt. They initiated at about 5000' and ran during heavy rainfall overnight on December 4th.

Avalanche Discussion

Forecaster Lee Lazzarra ventured into the Baker backcountry Tuesday afternoon. He saw several natural avalanches that occurred during the avalanche cycle Monday night. He found a wet snowpack, saturated down to the ground at elevations up to 5000ft or so. He saw many newly exposed rocks and creeks gushing and extensive melting and consolidation of the snowpack, especially at lower elevations. 

A few inches of dry snow will fall at upper elevations as temperatures cool Tuesday night into Wednesday. You may encounter small wind slabs if you travel to upper elevations. Triggering a wind slab avalanche probably wouldn't be large enough to bury you, but be aware of your surroundings and avoid wind slabs in high-consequence areas with terrain traps where you might get pushed into one.  Cooler temperatures with snow also mean you'll find hard, crusty surfaces developing. Keep this in mind for your travels. 

Look for shallowly buried hazards such as rocks, creeks, and trees. Don't let an early season injury end your or your sled's season. If you get out into the backcountry,  let us know what you see by submitting an observation!

 

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