Avalanche forecast

Silver Valley & Bitterroot Mountains

Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The primary concern today is newly formed wind slabs on the surface of the snow. Light snow and moderate SW winds have combined to create shallow wind drifted slabs across the zone.  Wind slab formation will most likely be found on north through northeast aspects. Wind slabs can be hard to identify at times, so take time to assess the stability of the upper snowpack before committing to steep terrain.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    Our snowpack is currently in a stable condition with pockets of stubborn windslab present at upper elevations. The 4-6" of snow that fell on Saturday came in with moderate west to southwesterly winds, this has created pockets of wind slab at elevations above 6,000' that may be triggered in steep terrain. On Monday we observed a couple of avalanches that had previously released in this new snow in very steep terrain (greater than 40 degrees). These windslabs will be resistant to triggering today and generally small in size, but you will want to pay attention to consequences of getting caught in an avalanche today before committing to steep terrain.

    (1/2/2023) Wind slab

Avalanche Discussion

Yesterday, Brian Hilland and Izzy Davis toured up from the Lookout Ski Area towards Stevens Peak. Most of the day we experienced partly sunny weather. Those few rays of sunshine felt pretty good at moments. The warmer temps and infusion of rainfall from the last week or so, followed by below freezing temperatures almost every night has helped solidify our snowpack quite well. We didn't see much excitement in our snow profile. We had one stubborn layer that barely did a resistant planer on a Column Test (CT6) at 13cm down from the surface; however, this was not congruent or in harmony with the second Column Test we did which did not reveal any results at all. We conducted an Extended Column Test which revealed no results, as expected. 

On the tour, we toured next to very shallow tree wells where we could check the buildup of wind slabs that we observed in the snow around us. With a gentle push, we could see cracks shooting out in different directions, like what you would find present in wind loaded areas. Remember, use extra caution around wind loaded areas and near ridgelines. Make good observations for wind and direction and ask yourself, “What terrain can the wind affect most where I’m at?”   

Recent avalanches- A public observation noted a large crown from an avalanche on a NE slope of Tiger Peak. It appeared to be 50m across and 150m long, most likely within the wind drifted snow.

Thank you for all of your observations on our new obs. platform! It's great information and will only get better as more people use it!

Thank you to Ericka Aamodt, from Silver Ski Patrol, for helping us out with data collection yesterday!

 

 

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