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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 21st, 2020–Mar 22nd, 2020

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

Regions

Northwest Inland.

Wind slabs may be hidden by a dusting of new snow but keep in mind, human triggering of wind slabs may still be possible where they sit over a weak layer.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Saturday night: Partly cloudy. Moderate northwest wind. Freezing level 500 m.

Sunday: Around 10 cm new snow. Light southwest wind. Freezing level 700 m.

Monday: Up to 10 cm new snow overnight then scattered flurries. Moderate northeast wind. Freezing level 700 m.

Tuesday: Mix of sun and cloud. Light north wind. Freezing level 500 m.

Avalanche Summary

Loose wet avalanches were observed on solar aspects during the warm, sunny week. A few cornice failures were observed Wednesday but did not trigger slabs. Lingering wind slabs and buried weak layers are still possible to be triggered by riders.

If you decide to travel in the backcountry, consider sharing your observations with us and fellow recreationists via the Mountain Information Network (MIN) to supplement our data stream as operators are shutting down. Even just a photo of what the day looked like would be helpful.

Snowpack Summary

Around 10 cm of new snow is falling over extensively wind-affected surfaces, and over melt-freeze crusts on solar aspects and low elevations.

A weak layer of surface hoar crystals buried early March may be found around 40 cm deep.

An early-season layer of faceted grains and melt-freeze crust near the base of the snowpack may linger. The most suspect locations to trigger this layer would be where the snowpack is thin near rocky outcrops. A large load, such as a cornice fall, also has the potential of triggering it. With cooling temperatures and increased cloud cover over the next few days, deep persistent avalanches on these layers are unlikely.

Terrain and Travel

  • Recent new snow may be hiding windslabs that were easily visible before the snow fell.
  • Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.

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.