Avalanche forecast

Avalanche forecast

Payette Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Recent North winds have gusted into the 20 mph range and have formed slabs on upper-elevation leeward terrain.  Use caution near ridgelines and cornices.

Southern portions of the advisory area have revealed a persistent slab in the upper foot of the snowpack. Carefully evaluate the snowpack before committing to slopes steeper than 30 degrees and utilize best travel protocols like 1 at a time on slopes steep enough to slide.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Winds have been all over the compass, but most recently strong enough to move snow out of the North and gusting into the 20 + mph range. Today Light to barely moderate South winds will try to move some snow also. We have only witnessed very small sluffs as far as natural avalanche activity, but wind-effect ripples on the snow surface on upper elevation slopes were visible Wednesday as well as plumes of snow drifting off of the peaks were also observed.

    Upper elevation slopes regardless of aspect should be held suspect for wind slabs. Pay attention to signs of drifting and change your route if you are seeing red flags like cracking or hearing whmphing sounds in the snowpack.

    (3/1/2023)

    North winds gusting and sending occasional plumes of snow onto South aspects of Slab Butte.

    Photo: GH

  • Persistent Slabs

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

    Our upper snowpack, the upper 1-2 feet, holds some nasty weak layers of snow in mainly the Southern portion of our advisory area. We observed buried surface hoar and near surface facets below a slab of about a foot in depth.  This problem has only been observed on West Mountain. We have observed and gotten reports of good stability elsewhere in the advisory area.

    A quick Mit or hand pits will be enough to find the buried weak layers in the upper snowpack with your hands and your eyes. 

Avalanche Discussion

Today's Forecast is sponsored by Brundage Mountain Resort. Thank You for supporting the Payette Avalanche Center!

There are some fantastic conditions out there right now, and a mixed bag of stability that ranges from poor to good depending on where you are in our advisory area. The snow is light and deep enough in places to cover your head...go have fun, but don't let your guard down on any slope that is steep enough to slide and wind-loaded terrain that is steep enough to slide.

The light fluffy snow is deep enough in some areas that a sluff, or moving snow from you can push you into terrain you would rather avoid. You will want to see if there are any weak layers in the upper snowpack, especially on the Northern aspects of West Mountain, Council Mountain, and No Business Mountain where persistent weak layers are bound to hang around on our list of problems for a while.

Solar aspects throughout the advisory have shown a thick crust buried beneath 1-2' of snow that has had a weak layer of facets below it and challenged to bond, and in some areas have been observed holding facets above the crust in places with minimal bonding due to pieces of surface hoar and near surface facets.

***Continue to implement good basic travel protocols like watching your partners from a safe spot while they are on a slope steep enough to slide, and make sure everyone is wearing their transceiver, shovel, and probe on their person :)