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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 20th, 2020–Mar 21st, 2020

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

Regions

South Coast.

Warm sunny weather continues. Use increased caution when slopes and cornices warm up throughout the day.

Confidence

High - Confidence is due to a stable weather pattern; little change is expected for several days.

Weather Forecast

Another day of clear weather before a low pressure system brings cooling and clouds on Sunday.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Clear skies, light north wind, freezing level drops to 1400 m, treeline temperatures drop to +2 C.

SATURDAY: Sunny, light north wind, freezing level climbing to 2000 m in the afternoon, treeline temperatures reach +8 C.

SUNDAY: Increasing clouds throughout the day, moderate southwest wind, freezing level drops to 1300 m, treeline temperatures around +2 C.

MONDAY: Periods of snow with accumulations of 5-10 cm, moderate southwest wind, freezing level drops to 800 m, treeline temperatures around -1 C.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been reported the past few days, although warm temperatures have likely resulted in natural wet loose avalanches in steep south-facing terrain. A few size 1-2 wind slab avalanches were human triggered over the weekend, but they should be less reactive after several days of warm weather.

Snowpack Summary

Sustained above freezing temperatures for the past few days has resulted in moist snow on the surface. Crusts may form overnight, and shaded alpine slopes likely have hard wind slabs on the surface.

The snowpack is well-settled. Snowpack depths rapidly with elevation, with 300-400 cm at treeline and no snow below 700 m.

Terrain and Travel

  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.

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.