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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 14th, 2014–Apr 15th, 2014

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

Regions

South Columbia.

Avalanche danger can rise very quickly with warming and solar radiation. Be aware of changing conditions and overhead hazards.For more insight into spring danger ratings, check out our latest Blog Post.

Confidence

Fair - Due to the number and quality of field observations

Weather Forecast

Tuesday: Cloudy with scattered flurries. Light westerly winds. Freezing level 1500m.Wednesday: Mainly cloudy with some sunny breaks. Light northwest winds. Freezing level 1600m.Thursday: Flurries with occasional sunny breaks. Light north winds. Freezing level 1900m.

Avalanche Summary

Recent reports are limited to solar triggered avalanches to size 2 from south facing terrain in the alpine and tree-line. In addition a few isolated wind slab avalanches to size 1.5 on northeast facing terrain in the alpine.

Snowpack Summary

Mainly sunny weather and the freezing level reaching up to 2300m for the past few days has created moist snow and/or a crust on all aspects and elevations except for high elevation north-facing terrain. This has helped to settle out last week's storm snow accumulations. Moderate west and southwest winds have redistributed what little dry snow still exists at upper elevations into wind slabs immediately lee of ridge crest.Three persistent weak layers exist in the highly variable snowpack of the South Columbia region:The mid-March sun crust/surface hoar layer down 50-80cm seams to have gone dormant for the time being.The early-March crust/facet/surface hoar layer down around 80-120cm has become less susceptible to human triggering, but still has the capacity to produce large avalanches.The mid-February crust/facet/surface hoar combo is typically down 150 - 200cm. Direct triggering of this layer has become unlikely, however, cornice fall, a smaller avalanche in motion or prolonged warming could wake this layer up, which would result in very large and destructive 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.

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.