Date of Observation: 02/02/2023
Name: Eric Murrow
Zone: Northwest Mountains
Route Description: Poverty Gulch to sunny side of Cascade and lap through Camo Glades.
Observed avalanche activity: Yes
Avalanches: Observed a couple more natural avalanches from the last cycle on south and southeast slopes below treeline (a 1cm melt/freeze crust was present below the storm snow on a slope below the south-facing avalanche). A couple very small natural loose avalanches ran from steep rocky areas on south side of the compass.
Weather: Clear skies, cold temps at valley bottom but mild temps above the inversion zone. Light northwest winds with occasional gusting. I observed a small bit of drifting off the highest terrain.
Snowpack: Snow surfaces warmed and became moist in the top 1.5 inches. Shaded slopes below treeline held around a 20 of recent snow; the slab remains very soft outside of wind-affected areas and did not produce any cracking on a steep sheltered slope. On a drifted near treeline features, I was able to get a small hunk of snow to break at the storm interface after significant stomping. It felt like there could be some drifted features capable of producing a large slab avalanche and a lesser chance for much smaller slabs in sheltered areas.
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- A small slab avalanche on a south slope failed right at the end of the stormy period. A crust was found beneath the storm snow just below the debris.
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- One of several small loose avalanches caused by warming on sunny, rocky terrain features.
