PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – While sun lovers bemoan the cold, wet weather that’s lingered in the Pacific Northwest during spring 2023, snow-sport enthusiasts are rejoicing.
The weather has allowed more time to do things like ski, snowmobile, snowshoe and ice climb, but experts warn that just because it’s no longer winter doesn’t mean the risk of avalanches goes away.
“The avalanche danger changes every single day, just like the weather,” said Dallas Glass, deputy director and avalanche forecaster at the Northwest Avalanche Center. “Some days it’s more dangerous. Some days it’s less dangerous.”
One thing that makes spring less predictable is the way the temperature can swing from one day to the next. It can go from a day where inches of snow pile up to a day with blue sky and sunshine and temperatures above freezing.
When the weather changes, it means the snow changes too. On days above freezing, more water is running through the snow, making it more likely for an avalanche to occur.
Water can really cause problems after several consecutive days where the temperature does not dip below freezing at night. Water will start to melt the ice, pulling and breaking down the layers of snow. Sometimes it occurs on the surface of snow, but other times it’s melting old, weak layers in the middle of the snowpack or on the ground where water can get between the snow and the soil or rocks.
In situations where that occurs, an entire season’s snowpack can come down in a single avalanche.
“This is a real dynamic time of year. The weather is dynamic, the snowpack is dynamic, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more dangerous. That means we really need to pay attention to what we’re doing to travel safely in the mountains,” Glass said.
Another time when avalanche risk can be higher is during and immediately after snow storms. Glass said any time the weather makes a big change, people can expect big problems with the snowpack.
So, be cautious during blue-sky days that come immediately after a snowstorm on Mt. Hood or any other peak.
The Northwest Avalanche Center has stopped issuing avalanche forecasts for the season, but Glass said there’s still a lot of useful information available on nwac.us. The website’s observations platform has updates from weather stations around the Cascade mountains, including Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens.
People can also see other people’s recent observations from around the Northwest. On this page, people report where they’ve seen avalanches or snow slab fractures, to help other people avoid dangerous places.
Glass encourages everyone to submit postings to help increase the amount of information that’s available to outdoor recreationalists around the Northwest.
“A lot of people will tell me ‘Hey, Dallas, I don’t know enough to talk about the snow.’ I fully disagree. If you can talk to your friends about snow, then you can talk to us about snow and you can talk to the community about snow,” he said.
Although the Northwest Avalanche Center isn’t posting regular avalanche forecasts this time of year, there is springtime avalanche information posted on its website that outlines some of the conditions that are typically seen during the season.
In addition to watching the weather closely, Glass recommends people make sure they have the skills necessary to navigate the terrain they are entering and to check the snowpack. They don’t necessarily need to dig snow pits to check the snow layers, but being able to make observations about the snow and basing their travel off of that will help.
He reminds people that one of the best signs of an avalanche hazard is observing signs of recent avalanches. Those indicate the snow is unstable.
“Mountains don’t know what the date on the calendar is. All they know are the conditions on the ground and they can be very winter-like even in April, May and sometimes June around here in the Northwest,” Glass said.
The Northwest Avalanche Center has more information on its website about what gear people should bring into the backcountry with them and courses on avalanche safety.