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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 17th, 2024–Mar 18th, 2024

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
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.

Regions

Coquihalla, Manning, Skagit.

Continue to minimize your exposure to avalanche terrain and avoid overhead hazard until cooler weather arrives.

Avoid sun affected slopes. Wet avalanches remain likely.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported on Saturday. However, observations are currently limited.

Wet avalanche activity has been observed this week up to size 2.5. Avalanches were only observed in the recent storm snow and not reported to have stepped down to the buried weak layers.

Check out this MIN report from Zupjok on Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find moist or wet snow at all elevations except the highest north facing terrain. 30-50 cm of snow from the past week is rapidly settling over a variety of layers including a thin sun crust on south aspects.

Two weak layers of surface hoar, facets and a crust exist, buried 80-120 cm deep. While these have not produced recent avalanche activity we are still concerned about the possibility of step down avalanches.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Clear skies. 20 km/h southerly ridgetop wind. Freezing level remains above 3000 m.

Monday

Sunny. 20 km/h southerly ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +7 °C with freezing levels remaining above 3000 m.

Tuesday

Sunny. 20-40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +4 °C with freezing levels falling to 2500 m over the day.

Tuesday

Cloudy with light snowfall. 40-50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing levels fall to 1500 m over the day.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain as temperatures increase.
  • Cornice failure may trigger large avalanches.
  • Keep in mind that wet avalanches can be destructive due to their high density.
  • If triggered loose wet avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

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.

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.