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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 15th, 2019–Apr 16th, 2019

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Inland.

Winter is coming... back and new snow has likely improved riding quality, especially in the alpine. But new snow and wind are likely forming fresh slabs, so you need to carefully check out the bond of the new snow before committing to your line.

Confidence

Moderate - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Tuesday

Weather Forecast

A fairly juicy pattern is setting up that should deliver modest snowfall and strong wind to the Inland region  beginning Tuesday morning carrying on through at least Friday. These systems are pretty convective which makes it difficult to pin down accurate snowfall amounts, but it looks like winter is coming, back, at least to the alpine over the next few days.MONDAY NIGHT: Freezing level around 500 m, light to moderate southwest wind, trace of snow possible.TUESDAY: Broken cloud cover, freezing level around 1200 m, moderate to strong southwest wind, 1 to 5 cm of snow possible, with another 1 to 5 cm possible Tuesday evening.WEDNESDAY: Broken cloud cover, freezing level around 1300 m, moderate to strong southwest wind, 1 to 5 cm of snow possible during the day with 1 to 5 cm possible Wednesday night.THURSDAY: Broken cloud cover, freezing level around 1500 m, strong southwest wind, 1 to 5 cm of snow possible.

Avalanche Summary

On Sunday natural wind slabs to size 1.5 were observed on northeast facing slopes between 1400 and 1800 m. A natural cornice failure produced a size 2.5 wind slab when it impacted the underlying slope.On Saturday loose wet sluffing from gulley walls was reported below treeline. Avalanches were also heard, but not seen running from big unskiable terrain.If you're out we'd love it if you would submit what you're seeing to the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

The region received 5 to 10 cm of snow Saturday into Saturday night. There is now about 10 cm of dry snow on high elevation north facing slopes and a thick melt freeze crust on all other aspects. As we enter into mid-April we're dealing with a classic warm snowpack. At and below treeline the snowpack is becoming isothermal. We're tracking the April 4th crust which is down 15 to 30 cm below the surface on high elevation north facing slopes. Surface hoar and facets have been observed on this crust and it continues to produce sudden planar results in snowpack tests. We have not heard of any activity on this interface recently, but this week's cycle of storms have potential to activate it.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.