Observation: NWAC Forecaster

Advanced Information

Weather Summary

Temps in the 20's at valley bottom mixed with much warmer air around 3,000ft in elevation or so. Valley fog was in place first thing in the morning, but by 2pm it had retreated to or below Leavenworth.

Avalanche Observations

Map of listed avalanches:

Snowpack Observations

HS was 120cm at 3,200ft, and boot pen 5cm. There is a stark difference below vs above the inversion that has been set up more or less for two weeks now. Snow was capped with a stout ice lens in the lower icicle until about Blackpine Campground, then it became more of a melt freeze crust (much more edgeable on skis and snowmobile). Multiple rain/freezing rain events have only thickened this ice lens, and it appears there is dry snow underneath. At higher elevations, water has percolated through much of the snowpack to the ground. A trace to an inch of dry snow with fairly widespread surface hoar sits atop the crust on open, shaded slopes. Snowpack is melting down on steep south aspects, and large slopes of bare ground are even starting to show around the 4,000ft elevation (above the inversion).