East Slopes Central

Wind slabs are most likely to form at mid and upper elevations on lee slopes below ridgelines and confined rocky features. Good indicators of wind-loaded slopes include blowing snow, cornice formations, and textured surfaces. You can use small test slopes to observe how the snow reacts.  Cracking or snow sliding easily as a slab are signs that you could trigger an avalanche on a larger, steep slope.  Choosing slopes that are sheltered from the wind or lower-angle terrain in wind-exposed locations are good travel options to avoid avalanches. 

In most of the zone, avalanches are likely to be small, but areas like Salmon La Sac could see double the snow totals, making larger avalanches much more likely.  Even the consequences of a small slide could be high if you were knocked off your feet or pushed into rocks or trees. On steep, sheltered terrain, dry loose avalanches could run easily on icy, old surfaces. 

Conditions change rapidly with daytime warming and strong sunshine. The forecast isn't clear on how much sun we can expect on Wednesday, but it won't take much for wet avalanches to become a problem. If you start to notice rollerballs, trees shedding snow, or small natural wet loose avalanches, it's a good idea to move to shadier or lower-angle slopes. These avalanches tend to be more predictable than slab avalanches, but they can pick up a lot of mass as they move downhill. Make sure you're not exposed to snow sliding off rocks from above, and avoid stopping where your partners could push wet snow down towards you. 

Temperatures could be down in the teens by Wednesday morning, so we don't expect wet avalanches to involve any of the older snow.