Olympics

Mostly clear skies and cool temperatures Saturday evening should allow the snow surface to freeze solid. Eventually, clouds will increase overnight, and showers return to the Olympics. While Hurricane Ridge is only expecting an inch or so of new snow, more remote areas in the western portion of the range could see 3 to 4 inches. The combination of a frozen surface, a few inches of new snow, and a firm crust should limit the avalanche danger on Sunday. Expect generally safe conditions throughout the zone. 

Even with the low danger, you could encounter avalanche issues in isolated terrain. Here’s a rundown of a few situations to watch out for. 

• Wind Slabs: Pockets of wind drifted snow could exist in the higher and wetter parts of the range. Look for scoured slopes and textured surfaces that help highlight potentially wind loaded features.
• Wet Loose: The new snow could produce a few small rollerballs as skies clear in the afternoon. That’s not much of a wet loose concern. The real issue would arise if the underlying crust were to fully break down. This would be most likely on steep, rocky, southerly slopes. However, there’s just not much snow left in these areas. 
• Shed-o-lanche: Blobs of snow could continue to fall off steep rocky terrain. Pay attention to what’s above you and don’t dilly dally under snow that’s still clinging to craggy faces or below crevasse-like glide cracks. These avalanches would probably be small, but could pack a huge punch due to the heavy wet snow. 

Last week was warm and rainy in the Olympics. It generally wet the snowpack, including old weak layers. While that’s great for overall stability, it’s bad for coverage. Lower elevations and southerly aspects are grim! Expect bare ground, random holes, and open creeks. Where there is snow, irregular surfaces, breakable crusts, and icy slopes could make travel tedious at best and dangerous at worst. Give yourself extra time to navigate all the travel challenges.