Backcountry Avalanche Forecast West South

All the pieces are in place for natural slab avalanches Wednesday; potentially weak snow surfaces, rising temperatures, heavy precipitation, and strong winds. Its less about if the avalanches will occur and more about when. If you travel out of the deep dark forest, steer around all slopes where avalanches can start, run, and stop. Natural avalanches will be most likely during periods of blowing snow, heavy precipitation, and when snow changes to rain. 

The bulk of the precipitation seems to impact Paradise and to a lesser extent Mt St Helens and Mt Adams. That doesn’t mean other areas are in the clear. Several days of stormy weather lay ahead and some slopes could be pushed past their breaking point as temperatures warm and more water accumulates.

When snow transitions to rain, start thinking about wet avalanches. Natural loose wet, and possibly even wet slab, avalanches will occur. Don’t let these easy to predict loose wet avalanches surprise you. Steer away from steep slopes and be leery of traveling above or around terrain traps where even a small avalanche could harm you. At mid-elevations, where more snow accumulates before switching to rain, you could see wet slab avalanches. These can be incredibly hard to predict. Any wet slide will be larger and could travel further as warming temperatures affect higher elevations. 

Rising temperatures and rain at ridgecrest brings naturally failing cornices to mind. Avoid traveling on or under these potential unique avalanche hazard.