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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 19th, 2019–Apr 20th, 2019

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

Regions

Northwest Inland.

Stronger sunshine and warmer temperatures are the concern for Saturday. New snow that sees sun for the first time is expected to shed easily, whether naturally or with light triggers. Please post your observations to the Mountain Information Network!

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

Friday night: Clear periods. Light northwest winds.

Saturday: Mainly sunny. Light south winds. Alpine high temperatures around -2 with freezing levels to 1600 metres.

Sunday: Increasingly cloudy with isolated flurries bringing a possible trace of new snow before increasing overnight. Light to moderate southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -2 with freezing levels to 1500 metres.

Monday: Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow, including overnight accumulations. Strong south or southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -1 with freezing levels to 1700 metres.

Avalanche Summary

A report from Wednesday in the Howson Range describes several very large (size 3) natural loose wet and wet slab releases in steep alpine terrain on a northeast aspect. This area received around 40 mm of precipitation over the week and activity here speaks to heightened avalanche danger in areas where new snow accumulations are deepest.

If you're out we'd love it if you would submit what you're seeing to the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

Around 10 cm of new snow accumulated over the past couple of days, bringing new snow totals from this week to a variable 15-30 cm, with the deepest amounts found in the southwest of the region. The new snow buried a melt freeze crust recently formed at treeline and below as well as on slopes that saw sun exposure after Saturday's storm. It adds to a wind-redistributed 5-10 cm of dry snow (from last weekend) on high elevation north facing slopes.

All this recent snow sits over a widespread, supportive melt-freeze crust from early April. Surface hoar and facets were previously observed on this crust on high north aspects. It remains uncertain whether it became involved in any natural avalanche activity over the past few stormy days.

At lower elevations, ongoing warm weather has been promoting isothermal snowpack conditions and melting the snowpack away.

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.

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.