Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 1st, 2022–Dec 2nd, 2022

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

Regions

Purcells, Dogtooth, East Purcell.

The snowpack is generally thin and sugary. Exercise extra caution in wind-exposed terrain where pockets of cohesive, wind slabs may be lurking.

Plenty of early season hazards exists with a thin, unsupportive snowpack, like rocks and tree stumps.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A couple of wind slab failures were reported on Wednesday. Size 1 to 2 and scrubbing down to the sugary, lower snowpack.

With the cold temperatures going forward the wind slabs should facet and dry out, making them less reactive.

Snowpack Summary

There is potential for cohesive, wind slabs to be found in wind-exposed areas. Otherwise, the snowpack lacks much cohesion (slab properties) at the moment. 20-30cm of low-density snow has fallen over the previous week. The new snow overlays a generally facetted, sugary, and weak snowpack.

The overall height of snow is highly variable throughout the region. 50-150 cm in the alpine.

Weather Summary

Thursday night

Mostly clear with no precipitation. In the alpine, light winds and temperatures in -15 to -20 C range.

Friday

A mix of sun and cloud, with no precipitation. Light winds, gusting to moderate from the NW in the alpine. Alpine temperatures remain steady in the -15 to -20 C range.

Saturday

A mix of sun and cloud. Light west winds and cold temperatures persist, -15 to -20 C in the alpine.

Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud. Light west winds in the alpine. While alpine temperatures begin to warm slightly, -10 to -15 C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
  • Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.
  • Early season avalanches at any elevation have the potential to be particularly dangerous due to obstacles that are exposed or just below the surface.

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.