Lawinenlagebericht

Lawinenlagebericht

Payette Avalanche Center
Auf der Karte ansehen

Lawinengefahr

Sat
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
3 · Erheblich
Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 5 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

The avalanche hazard in the West Central Mountains today is CONSIDERABLE.  Human-triggered avalanches are likely in areas affected by gusty winds.   Wind slabs and drifts will be present on all wind-exposed terrain.   Storm slabs and wind slabs are building on a variety of weak layers including crusts, and faceted snow that formed earlier in the week. The new, and wind-blown snow will also increase the likelihood of triggering older, persistent problems that caused several avalanches last weekend.  Avalanches 1-3+ feet are possible on many aspects today. An additional 6-12 inches of snow and more wind are on tap for today and will increase the possibility of triggering an avalanche.  You can reduce your risk of being caught in an avalanche today by avoiding wind-affected terrain and steep slopes. 

 

 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Storm Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1–2

    We received another 12 inches of snow in the last 24 hours.  The new snow is resting on a variety of older, weak layers below including sun crusts on solar aspects.  An additional 6-12 inches of snow is forecasted through the day today.  Expect human-triggered and natural avalanches failing within the new snow layers and at or below the old snow surface on all aspects today, the slab will continue to grow throughout the day.

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Very Likely
    Größe
    1–2

    Winds have been moving a lot of snow this week. Gusts in excess of 25mph were recorded yesterday on the Granite Weather Station.  Tamarack Resort reported peak gusts near 50 mph yesterday afternoon.   Winds are forecasted to gust into the mid 30 mph range today and will be able to EASILY move the new low-density snow that has fallen in the last 24 hours. Watch for obvious clues such as sculpting on the windward slopes and drifts and pillows indicating wind loading on leeward terrain. Cracking or hollow-sounding or feeling snow are signs of wind slab. 

     

    Wind scoured ridgeline near Council Mt. Large cornices and wind slabs were abundant on leeward terrain.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1–3

    Many weak layers were present in the upper portion of the snowpack prior to this storm. In addition, the cold clear nights Tuesday and Wednesday allowed a new weak layer to form at the old snow surface.  You can also expect to see recently formed sun crusts on solar aspects that warmed up earlier in the week.  Our primary concern remains a weak layer that was buried on 2/12.  This layer was a combination of surface hoar and near-surface facets buried around 3 feet deep prior to this storm.  In some areas, these persistent grain types were resting on a slick crust.  This is the layer that was responsible for at least 3 human-triggered avalanches last weekend and now has an additional foot of snow resting on it.   

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Snowmobile triggered avalanche reported last weekend in the Sulphur Creek Drainage.

Avalanche Discussion

Thank You to everyone that supported the Friends of the Payette Avalanche Center's Online fundraiser Saturday night! The fundraiser was a great success and brought in $4,800.00. This will help the avalanche center and people in the community a lot! Many thanks go out to our awesome local band, The Jughandle Parade who played on Facebook live for us during the last few hours. If you missed the fundraiser last week,  you can still donate to the FPAC by clicking here.

As we head into another busy weekend, PAC would like to encourage all users to take a pause, step back and look at the local statistics as well as the climbing number of fatalities this winter.  In our area, we had 3 human-triggered avalanches that we know about that occurred on Saturday and Sunday.  Last week, we had at least the same amount.  The weekend prior to that skiers and snowmobilers reported natural and human-triggered avalanches occurring on many aspects.  Across the Western U. S. we have had 7 avalanche fatalities in the last 10 days and 25 avalanche fatalities during the month of February.  Many of these accidents occurred under Considerable hazard or under what Avalanche Centers and snow professionals have been calling "high Moderate" or "scary Moderate" hazard.  This has been a weird winter, we have unusual snowpack conditions across much of the Western U.S.  It's time to dial back your slope angles, take the time to dig into what the Avalanche Forecast is saying, and travel with a larger margin of safety built in. We are on track to have the highest number of avalanche-related deaths in the U.S. ever, don't add yourself or your partners to that count.

If you see or trigger avalanche activity, please take the time to snap a picture and note the approximate elevation and aspect, you can submit an observation on our website. Getting your info helps forecasters and other users get a better picture of the conditions throughout our mountains. If you have trouble using our observations page, please email us at: [email protected]   Please be mindful of other users in the mountains, and where you are at. There are closures for motorized travel in and around the local ski areas, in the Lick Creek Canyon,  Granite Mtn, Jug Mountain, and other areas throughout our region.  Check out the Winter Travel Map to find out where you can shred on your sled or moto.  Not all of these areas are signed, it is your responsibility to know where these closures exist.