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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 25th, 2020–Mar 26th, 2020

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

Regions

Lizard-Flathead.

Limited observations are keeping forecast confidence low. Recent snow is expected to remain reactive to triggering on Thursday.

Confidence

Low - Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Weather Forecast

Wednesday night: Becoming clear. Light to moderate northwest winds.

Thursday: Sunny. Light to moderate west or southwest winds increasing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -6.

Friday: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5.

Saturday: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -4.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported from Tuesday's storm, but observations have been minimal. The new snow is expected to remain reactive over the near term, especially on steeper south facing slopes and in areas where wind loading has occurred or will occur.

Snowpack Summary

About 20 cm of new snow accumulated during Tuesday's storm. The new snow likely sits above a melt-freeze crust on sun-exposed slopes and on previously wind-affected snow in other areas, so new slabs may take some time to bond to these surfaces.

A layer of faceted grains overly a melt-freeze crust from early February. This layer currently sits 30 to 60 cm below the surface. This layer remains dormant and has not produced a reported avalanche for about a week.

The base of the snowpack may contain a weak layer of faceted grains that are most prominent in shallow rocky start zones with a snowpack depth of 150 cm or less.

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • Minimize exposure to sun-exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.
  • Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.

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.