Bollettino valanghe

East Slopes Central

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Fri
Alta quota
2 · Moderato
Limite del bosco
2 · Moderato
Sotto il limite
1 · Debole
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Non aggiornato — questo bollettino è scaduto 4 years ago. Stai vedendo condizioni passate, non il bollettino in corso.

In sintesi

Wind slabs can be found on upper elevation, exposed slopes and may be easy to trigger on recently buried layers and a slick crust. Slabs could break out widely in alpine terrain. Consider your terrain size and steer around larger features if finding signs of instability like shooting cracks, or if loose snow slides easily.

Problemi valanghivi

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alta quota
    • Limite del bosco
    • Sotto il limite del bosco
    Probabilità
    Possible
    Dimensione
    1–2

    Winds should continue to buffet upper elevation slopes into the morning, and drift snow in the process. These freshly formed wind slabs may be easy to trigger in certain areas. The distribution of slabs may be patchy, but they could be quite reactive. Check to see how the snow reacts on small test slopes. Look for punchier deeper drifts, cornices, and textured snow surfaces to identify likely slabs.  Steer around steeper slopes if you find instability or thick slabs in large terrain features where getting caught in a slide could be less than ideal. 

    Loose slides could run far and fast on steep slopes. Check to see if it entrains, or how it reacts before jumping into consequential terrain.

    Example wind slab from the 16th. Slides could be deeper and wider on Thursday.

Avalanche Discussion

Observers reported around 4" of new snow in the eastern Wenathcee Mtns on Wednesday. Winds were readily drifting the new snow into slabs, and one observer was able to trigger a 6" deep windslab that ran on the recent crust. Small cornices were also touchy off ridgelines. The riding conditions are likely improving substantially, though the crust could still make for slick or slippery conditions on steep slopes, especially below treeline. Thursday should bring sunshine, so keep that in mind and expect to see it's influence on snow surfaces on southerly aspects. 

An observer reported finding fresh surface hoar on southerly aspects at 6,000ft near Blewett Pass on Tuesday. Some weak snow such as this could make for surprising and wide avalanches in certain places.

On Monday, there was a skier triggered slide at Mission Ridge below the Microwave Tower. The skier took a ride and was partially buried, though luckily did not report major injuries. They did, however lose their skis. A few other parties saw the avalanche or aftermath, and assembled a probe line and found the missing skis. A subsantial warm and wet storm from Thursday through the weekend resulted in a widespread natural avalanche cycle with at least a few D3 wet avalanches, dozens of large wet avalanches, and many smaller storm/wind slabs. Prior to this last storm, there were many reports of folks triggering avalanches on an older layer of buried surface hoar and subtle crusts. These persistent weak layers may still exist above about 6,500ft, and in the northern quarter of the zone.

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