Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Dec 24th, 2011 9:21AM
The alpine rating is Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
, the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems includeSummary
Confidence
Fair - Due to variable weather conditionsfor the entire period
Weather Forecast
Sunday: Generally light snowfall with a pulse of moderate snowfall expected in the afternoon. The freezing level will rise to 800m by afternoon. Strong south-westerly winds at ridge top.Monday/Tuesday: Further light precipitation with moderate-strong south-westerly winds. The freezing level should slowly rise in the early part of the week.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches have been reported.
Snowpack Summary
Recently developed surface hoar and near-surface facets are getting gently buried by light snowfall, potentially creating a weak interface which could become reactive with enough new load from snow and/or wind-transport.Other buried surface hoar layers exist in the upper 15-25cm (with sudden test results on these layers in some locations). Soft and hard wind-slabs can be found on certain slopes in the alpine and around treeline. Generally light snowfall amounts are forecast for the region over the next few days. Without the certainty of heavy or rapid loading, it's hard to know when the weight of new snow building over buried weaknesses might reach a tipping point. Areas with locally heavier snowfall should reach this point sooner. Facets at the base of the snowpack could create a deep persistent slab problem that deserves attention in shallow snowpack areas on planar rocky slopes.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South, South West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Dec 25th, 2011 8:00AM