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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 14th, 2023–Apr 15th, 2023

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 possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
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.

Regions

Glacier.

Be conservative with slopes that have not yet avalanched, storm slabs at upper elevations remain triggerable and have shown wide propagation.

At lower elevations, loose wet avalanches are easily triggered in the heat of the day and can gain mass quickly running on a widespread crust.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday, numerous solar triggered storm slab and loose wet avalanches up to size 3 were observed with wide propagation over the Mar 31 layer.

Natural activity has reduced since, however, several natural avalanches were observed both in the hwy corridor and in the backcountry Wednesday and Thursday. With big daily temperature changes the hazard is highest in the warmth of late afternoon.

Snowpack Summary

35cm of recent snow formed a reactive storm slab, thicker in lee features. This slab is propagating and stepping down to the March 31 layer (crust on solar aspects, facet/surface hoar on polar aspects).

The mid and lower snowpack is generally strong. However, the Nov 17 basal weakness can still be found near the ground in many locations.

Weather Summary

Calm weather continues until late Sunday when a low pressure arrives with light snowfall and moderate winds.

Sat: Cloudy w/ sunny periods, no precipitation, high -3°C. FZL 1900m, moderate S winds.

Sun: Cloudy with snow 17cm, low -5 °C, FZL 2100m, moderate S winds.

Mon: Cloudy with flurries 12cm, low -8 °C, FZL 1600m, light gusting strong SW winds.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
  • Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.