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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 9th, 2013–Feb 10th, 2013

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

Regions

Northwest Coastal.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Synopsis: Several low intensity pulses of precipitation will bring light to moderate precipitation amounts through the period, focussed mostly along extreme coastal areas.Sunday: Light to moderate snowfall starting in the afternoon (5-10 cm). Southwesterly winds around 50 km/h at ridgetop. Freezing level around 900m.Monday and Tuesday: 5-10 cm new snow each day. Freezing level around 500 m. Moderate to strong southwesterly winds.

Avalanche Summary

Avalanche activity has tapered off, with only one size 2 skier-triggered avalanche on a steep north slope reported from Friday.

Snowpack Summary

Recent weather has been relatively benign, with precipitation pulses giving incremental loading (5-10cm at a time). Relatively light winds have accompanied these snowfall pulses with some stronger outflow winds closer to the coast. At elevations below 1300 m you might find a crust on the surface from warm temperatures and/or from previous drizzly rain.In the upper snowpack, various melt-freeze crusts remain a concern. Depending on your location, you may encounter crusts as shallow as 40cm and as deep as 110cm. Recent compression tests show both resistent and sudden planar results and an extended column test showed a continued propensity for propagation if the layer was triggered. It is certainly worth keeping these layers on your radar in regards to distribution and reactivity in the areas that you are riding. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled..

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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.