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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 2nd, 2023–Feb 3rd, 2023

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

Regions

Yukon, Tutshi, Wheaton, White Pass East, White Pass West.

Sheltered terrain in the alpine has a persistent weak layer that will be a concern for awhile still. It has shown the ability to remote trigger from quite far away.

Usual signs of instability may not be present in areas of concern. Be wary of large and continuous north facing slopes.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A couple of large (size 2-3) persistent slab, human-triggered and natural avalanches have been reported within the last 7 days. Avalanches have occurred near ridgetops in north-to-northeast alpine terrain. These avalanches have shown an impressive capability of propagating large distances. Here is a link to the most recent human-triggered size 3 avalanche.

If you are out in the backcountry please consider filling out a Mountain Information Network report.

Snowpack Summary

5 cm of new light snow is resting on a variety of wind-affected surfaces and crusts with small surface hoar in places in the alpine. This new layer should be monitored closely moving forward as new snow arrives early next week.

A persistent weak layer of surface hoar and/or facets is 50-80 cm deep and exists in north facing alpine features, creating a number of recent, scary human-triggered avalanches.

Below roughly 1700 m a widespread 5-20 cm, supportive, melt-freeze crust is present,

Weather Summary

Thursday night

Cloudy. 3 cm of new snow. Temperature -9 C overnight. Variable and light winds.

Friday

Mostly cloudy. 1 cm new snow. Temperature rising to -6 C in the afternoon. Wind 20 km/h from the southwest.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy. No new snow. Temperature -6C. Wind 30 km/h from the southwest.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy. Flurries possible. Temperature -4 Wind 50 km/h from the southwest.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • In times of uncertainty conservative terrain choices are our best defense.
  • Use caution on large alpine slopes, especially around thin areas that may propagate to deeper instabilities.
  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
  • Persistent slabs have potential to pull back to lower angle terrain.

Problems

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.