West Slopes North

Wet snow and poor riding conditions kept backcountry observations to a minimum on Saturday. The few who were out reported the snow surface simply became wetter with light rainfall, but no new wet avalanches or other signs of instability were noted as of late afternoon.

An NWAC forecaster in West Central near Darrington found overall wet conditions on Saturday, with no dry snow at the surface up to about 5500 feet. Numerous rollerballs and one wet avalanche, about D2 in size, had released in the past 24 hours, likely overnight when rainfall was heavier and more consistent. Rollerballs and small wet snow avalanches very stubborn to trigger. About 2 feet of moist snow sits over crusts from late January and early February, but snowpack tests revealed no layers of concern.

The persistent slab problem from last week was never consistently observed across the forecast zone. Time, warm temperatures, additional loading from rain and snow, and a lack of recent avalanche activity and significant snowpack observations have taken this problem off the table. However, deeper layers could still be triggered by large loads, such as a small avalanche or a falling cornice, even though a single person would be very unlikely to trigger one. These are low-likelihood events, but something to keep in mind if heading into less-traveled terrain or areas where persistent slab avalanches were reported last week.