Avalanche forecast

Northwest Inland

Jan 18 – 20, 2012Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    2–5
    Strong winds out of the North - East associated with Arctic Air have formed widespread wind slabs. Watch for wind slabs & cross loaded slopes in wind exposed areas at all elevations. Choose travel routes carefully to avoid wind loaded snow.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–6
    Persistent slabs are getting harder to trigger but still exist in many locations.

Confidence

Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather is uncertain

Weather Forecast

More cold and dry air is on tap for Thursday as Arctic Air continues to affect the area. Light precipitation creeps in Friday and winds switch around to the S-SW which will warm things up a bit, Friday's forecast call for a high of -4. Moderate precip builds in Saturday and will continue through Sunday. Precip totals are a bit sketchy at this point, but these details will flush themselves out as we get closer to the weekend.

Avalanche Summary

There have been no recent avalanches observations reported from the region.

Snowpack Summary

The region received heavy rain last weekend creating a stout crust up to about 1000m. Moving up in elevation, that precipitation turned to snow. Winds wreaked havoc on the new snow in wind exposed areas. Those old wind slabs have mostly settled out now. The region has received a few small shots of snow in the last 4 days, and that snow is reportedly bonding well to the old snow surface. The snowpack is highly variable in the region as strong winds have accompanied most of the storms. Looking around you can see the evidence of the big winds; some ridges are scoured down to bare rock, others have fat wind pillows on them. Outflow winds are now effecting the NW Inland region.

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