Aspect:  All aspects, especially wind-protected basins, aprons below steep terrain (see photos in Avalanche Activity Section below)

Elevation:  Treeline and above.

Bottom Line: Avoid all avalanche terrain! Rapid, heavy loading on a suspect snowpack is occurring. The last several days have produced a number of natural avalanches with wide propagation. The onset of this new storm could be enough to tip the scales.  This problem will be difficult to identify with recent accumulations and new snowfall and heavy precipitation is adding more stress. Remote triggering is possible to common, even from mild terrain.  Human-triggered avalanches remain possible 1-6′ deep and even to the ground in some areas.

The likelihood of natural avalanches in the alpine is increasing. Avoid run-out zones and significant avalanche terrain, especially in poor visibility. There were active layers during the last storm, and many slopes may be on the brink, waiting for a trigger.

Travel Advice: 

• Limit travel in the alpine during heavy snowfall and increasing temperatures
• Think about any steep connected terrain and how a slab could propagate wider than expected
• Avoid similar terrain to the photos of recent avalanches (Avalanche Activity Section below)
• Look for recent natural avalanches.
• Watch for red flags: shooting cracks and collapsing (whumphing).
• Give a wide travel margin to suspect slopes, travel one-at-a-time, eyes on!
• Avoid terrain with traps and complexity.
• Use travel test pits to identify any suspect layers. Buried surface hoar is difficult to find in a snowpit without careful testing and shearing off layers.

Surface Hoar from Flower Mountain on 1/20/2022 & Buried Surface Hoar down 30cm and weak faceted layer down 100cm on 2/3/2022

Aspect: All 

Elevation: Near and Above Treeline, or above the freezing level.

Bottom Line: Very heavy and wet snowfall is expected today, with accumulations approaching 13″ by tonight. South winds will be moving around the new snow, and temperatures will be hovering near freezing. Avalanches will be likely within the new snow. Wind loaded areas could accumulate enough critical loading to trigger deep persistent weak layers, which could cause wide propagation and very large avalanches that run full-path.

Travel Advice:

• Avoid all avalanche terrain! Stick to slopes less than 30 degrees.
• Asses for crack propagation potential, especially over convexities.
• If you head out, stick to the trees and watch out for terrain traps where even small slides could pile up to be quite deep.
• Stay out of avalanche runout zones along valley bottoms.

Aspect: All

Elevation: Below freezing levels ~2,000′

Bottom Line: The advent of this front is bringing in heavy precipitation, warmer temperatures, and rain on saturated snow. Anywhere at or below the freezing level, natural wet avalanches are likely.  This includes the potential of liquid water loosening bonds not only at the surface, but deeper down on buried weak layers, or at the ground and could produce wet slab avalanches (see persistent problem.)

Travel advice:

• Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.
• With the nature of wet avalanches and the intensity of the incoming storm, no reliable travel technique through avalanche terrain will keep you safe.
• Avoiding any slopes greater than 25 degrees, connected terrain, and run out zones are vital to not getting caught in a potentially small to large slide.
• Be cautious of areas where terrain traps can turn small avalanches into deep burials. Dangerous conditions exist.