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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 8th, 2020–Feb 9th, 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, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Glacier.

The low density snow that we've been receiving incrementally since last weekend has begun to reach threshold for large loose dry avalanches, manage terrain appropriately.

Weather Forecast

Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries today, light winds from the NE. Daytime high will be -8 C at treeline.

Clearing tonight will give cooling temps, Treeline will reach a low of -11 C overnight, winds remain light from the North.

Sunday will be mostly cloudy with flurries, moderate-strong Westerly winds, and treeline temps of up to -9 C.

Snowpack Summary

5-10cm of low density snow overnight brings totals to 35+cm of snowfall since the atmospheric river event last weekend. Last nights snow overlies previous pockets of windslab from SW winds at upper elevations, and a thin suncrust on steep solar aspects. Expect dust on crust/rugged travel on all but smooth slopes at lower elevations.

Avalanche Summary

A small natural avalanche failed as a windslab in the MacDonald gullies on Friday.

On Thursday cornice fall triggered a large slab avalanche (size 2.5) on the N. face of Cheops; explosive testing at treeline produced small-large slab avalanches; and our neighbors reported skier triggering small-large windslabs in exposed treeline and alpine terrain.

Confidence

Problems

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.