WWUS86 KPQR 301556
SABPQR
ORZ011-010100-

Special Avalanche Bulletin
USFS Northwest Avalanche Center Seattle WA
Relayed by National Weather Service Portland OR
856 AM PDT Sun Apr 30 2023

...THE NORTHWEST AVALANCHE CENTER HAS ISSUED A SPECIAL AVALANCHE 
BULLETIN...

* WHAT...THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT AND EXTENDED WARM-UP OF THE SPRING WILL
  LEAD TO DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS. MOUNTAIN TEMPERATURES WILL
  STAY WELL ABOVE FREEZING AND FREEZING LEVELS AROUND 10,000 to 12,000
  feet OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THIS WARM-UP WILL FOLLOW SEVERAL
  WEEKS OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND SNOWY WEATHER. AT MID AND
  ESPECIALLY HIGHER ELEVATIONS, THE SNOW PACK HAS NOT TRANSITIONED TO A
  MORE TYPICAL AND UNIFORM SNOW PACK. THE LIKELIHOOD OF WET SNOW 
  AVALANCHES AND CORNICE FALL WILL BE ELEVATED OVER THIS PERIOD. THIS 
  WARM-UP WILL ALSO LEAD TO RAPID SNOW MELT AT LOWER ELEVATIONS, 
  CHALLENGING TRAVEL CONDITIONS, AND OTHER NON-AVALANCHE HAZARDS. 

* WHERE...The Washington Cascades, the Mt Hood area, and the 
  Olympic Mountains.

* WHEN...IN EFFECT UNTIL SUN 18:00 PDT. 
  
* IMPACTS...Wet snow avalanches will occur over this period. Some of 
  these slides will be very large and destructive. Natural or human 
  triggered wet snow avalanches will include wet loose, wet slab, 
  and glide avalanches as well as cornice fall.  
  
  
* PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Backcountry travel 
  considerations include:

-Travel early in the morning during the coolest part of the day. 
-Consider your return route and how conditions may differ on the way 
back to the trailhead. 
-If you see new or recent avalanches, avoid similar slopes. 
-Glide and wet snow avalanches are difficult to predict and may 
occur anytime of day, including well after the "heat" of the day.
-On the higher peaks including the volcanoes, very large avalanches 
can release from higher-elevation terrain and run thousands of feet 
downhill. Be aware of the terrain you are connected to even at lower 
elevations.
-Cornice fall and snow can shed from steep rocks. Limit or avoid 
spending time under these hazards. 
-Creeks, crevasses, and buried rocks/cliff features become more 
hazardous as the snowpack weakens and melts out around them. 
Snowbridges can collapse without warning. Use caution where these 
hazards exist.

Visit www.nwac.us or www.avalanche.org for further information.

Similar avalanche danger may exist at locations outside the coverage 
area of this or any avalanche center. 

$$