Bollettino valanghe

West Slopes North

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Pericolo valanghe

Sat
Alta quota
1 · Debole
Limite del bosco
1 · Debole
Sotto il limite
1 · Debole
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In sintesi

We're forecasted to receive a trace of new snow with a minimal uptick in wind overnight. If the sun shines on Friday, expect small wet avalanches to run on steep southerly slopes. Maintain normal caution, especially as you travel higher where more low-density snow exists.  

Problemi valanghivi

  • Loose Wet

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

    The calendar may read early February, but It may surprise you how much more intensely the sun is shining than a month ago. It won't take much sunlight for steep, south-facing slopes and any low-density snow sitting on them to slide. The good thing about wet loose avalanche activity in these conditions is that it's fairly predictable. If the sun comes out, stay off steep south-facing slopes and away from the runouts if slides start coming down. You may see rollerballs first, or rollerballs could be the only activity you'll see, depending on how much sun we get. There may be no activity if clouds persist. Slides will probably remain small, running 4-6 inches deep, if that.

    On Sunday, when the sun came out avalanches occurred. You can read an observation about the activity HERE. The avalanches mainly happened on slopes that had rocks and trees in or just above the start zones, which absorbed more heat to help initiate the slides. If activity occurs on Friday this will probably be the case as well. 

    (2/4/2024)

    Small wet loose avalanche activity and rollerballs on south-facing slopes that occurred not long after the sun came out on Sunday. They mainly occurred where start zones had rocks or trees, causing more warming of the snow. 

    Photo: Julz Holder - Grounding Truth

Avalanche Discussion

Although unlikely, if you travel to upper elevations, you may find small, isolated wind slabs at higher elevations that you could trigger an avalanche on. There's a small uptick in wind Thursday night before conditions are mainly calm on Friday. 

An observer traveled to 7000ft on Thursday and found a snowpack that was non wind-affected. He could feel the older wind slabs, which were unreactive, beneath the 4-6 inches of new snow. Based on these findings, there is a fair amount of snow available for transport, but we don't think there will be enough wind Thursday night or Friday to cause extensive slab development. If there is more wind than forecasted, you can expect to find more and larger slabs. 

Weak, faceted snow has been found in areas above the early February crust. This may mean that when more snow is added on top, avalanches could be easier to trigger than expected.

Lower elevations are crusty and have sparse snow cover. As you climb to mid-elevations you'll start finding a couple inches of snow coating the crust, which will increase to about 6 inches of low-density snow at mid and upper elevations. At upper elevations this is sitting over a previously wind-affected layer, varying at around 6 inches deep.  If only the low density snow exists, you can expect to feel the crust beneath any newer snow sitting on top, so prepare for travel with potentially slippery surfaces. 

 

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