East Slopes South

At the highest elevations right along the Cascade Crest, you may encounter tiny slabs of wind dirfted snow. Any recently fallen snow in these same areas will be warming and weakening in the sun as well. 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 by the end of the day. Unfortunately, it's unlikely any of this precip fell as snow in East South. Since then, the zone has been dusted with a paltry amount of snow at upper elevations near the Cascade Crest. You may be able to find a very isolated pocket of wind drifted snow that is unstable. Nothing will be remotely big enough to bury you, but something could catch you off guard and sweep your feet out from under you. Surfaces will also likely be hard and slick on all aspects in the morning before having time to soften. If you are recreating in extreme terrain with hazards below, take a moment to evaluate what the consequences would be from an uncontrolled fall before diving in.

With Friday being the warmest day of the week, expect any recently fallen snow you may encounter to warm and weaken. Some afternoon cloud cover and east wind may help mitigate this problem, but have it on your radar nonetheless.

The last observation from an NWAC Forecaster in the zone on Sunday reported a thick and supportable surface crust on northerly aspects. Below this crust, the snow still retained some moisture from last week's warm weather but was drying out and stabilizing well. Observations from nearby zones report similar findings.

Other non-avalanche hazards abound. The zone is riddled with open creeks, random holes, exposed logs, and rocks. Take your time as you travel around and plan for difficult mountain access.

Last week’s warm spell decimated the already struggling East South snowpack. 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. You can still find rideable snow at middle and upper elevations.