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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 15th, 2023–Apr 16th, 2023

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

Regions

Glacier.

Although natural avalanches have tapered off, human triggering remains a possibility especially in areas that have not seen an avalanche in the past week.

Heads up as the surface crust breaks down with rising freezing levels tomorrow!

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A field team was able to easily trigger size 1-1.5 slow moving loose wet avalanches on a North aspect below treeline today.

Several natural avalanches (average size 2.0) from all aspects were observed in the park Thursday through Saturday (today).

On Wednesday, numerous solar triggered storm slab and loose wet avalanches up to size 3 were observed with wide propagation over the March 31 layer.

Snowpack Summary

Cold winter snow can still be found on due North aspects in the alpine. A breakable surface crust exists on all other aspects.

The 35cm of recent snow was redistributed by moderate Southerly winds earlier in the week and has formed a reactive slab.

The mid and lower snowpacks are generally strong. The Nov 17 basal weakness can still be found near the ground in many locations.

Weather Summary

A low pressure system arrives tomorrow night bringing light to moderate precipitation and gusty winds.

Tonight: Mainly clear. Alpine Low -4 °C, FZL 1500m, light S winds.

Sun: Snow 13cm (late PM arrival). Alpine High 0 °C, FZL 2000m. Light gusting strong S winds.

Mon: Flurries 4cm. Low -9 °C, High -6 °C, FZL 1300m. Light gusting moderate SW winds.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
  • Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.
  • Be alert to conditions that change with elevation and sun exposure.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

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.