East Slopes North

A weather system will bring cooler temperatures along with some light snow showers and breezy ridgeline winds on Wednesday.  In areas that receive a few inches of new snow, you may see pinwheels or small wet loose avalanches release from very steep slopes or below cliff bands.

With SR 20 road clearing operations underway midweek and professional operations in the area spinning down for the season, your observations are as important as ever. If you're out and about, give us a shout and let us know what you see. 

The cooler temperatures forecast for tomorrow should generally help strengthen and refreeze older wet or moist snow surfaces. Unfortunately, the weather system is not expected to bring much if any new snow to the majority of the zone. It's possible an or two could accumulate closer to the Cascade crest as the front sweeps through in the morning.  If any areas where more than a few inches of snow accumulate, it won't take the spring sun long before the new dry snow begins to change.  If you see pinwheels or rollerballs, small wet loose avalanches may not be far behind.  In this scenario, use caution on or below very steep slopes where even a small wet loose avalanche could push you over cliffs or other terrain traps. 

Last week large cornices failed and triggered avalanches on the slopes below. With this change in the weather pattern,  cooler temperatures should help lower the chances of cornice failure over the next few days. 

A widespread natural wet loose avalanche cycle occurred last weak in the Washington Pass vicinity.  While recent avalanche activity centered on wet snow avalanches, there's still some winter-like layering to keep tabs on. On wind-sheltered NW-NE aspects near and above treeline, observers found near-surface facets 1-2 feet below the surface and often above a crust. This weak snow layer was involved with persistent slab avalanches near the Mount Baker ski area and other parts of the Cascades. A layered, winter snowpack still exists on some northerly aspects at higher elevations. Even though the avalanche danger is low, it's worth digging to look for any weak snowpack structure before committing to steep terrain. 

A deeper persistent weak layer still exists in the zone that was responsible for avalanches in early March. The layer can still be found about 3 feet deep, sandwiched between eroding crusts on NW-NE aspects near and above treeline and has been particularly problematic in the Harts Pass area. The most recent of these occurred on March 9th in Allen Basin. While triggering an avalanche on this layer (the late January facets) is highly unlikely, the consequences could be serious. You can limit your exposure to shallow, rocky areas and steep and unsupported slopes. See the avalanche occurrence database for more details.