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

Apr 6th, 2025–Apr 7th, 2025

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

Regions

Purcells, Dogtooth, East Purcell, West Purcell.

Head to high north facing slopes to find the best conditions.

Wet loose avalanches remain possible as warm temperatures continue.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday avalanche activity was limited to size 1 wind slab in wind affected terrain, and loose wet on steep solar aspects.

On Friday, a natural cornice fall triggered a 2.5-sized slab on a northeasterly alpine slope, following natural persistent slab activity from thin rocky northerly terrain near Panorama on Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

The snow surface is either a thin crust or moist snow to 2500 m. High alpine north facing slopes may still hold dry snow above a thick crust from late March.

Several weak layers from early March, mid-February and late January can be found in the mid and lower snowpack. These layers remain a concern where a thick crust isn’t present above.

The base of the snowpack is generally faceted.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Mostly clear. 10 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Freezing levels remain above 2300 m.

Monday

Mix of sun and clouds with light flurries possible in the east and up to 5 cm in the west. 30 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level lowering to 2000 m.

Tuesday

Partly cloudy with isolated flurries. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level around 2000 m.

Tuesday

Partly cloudy with isolated flurries. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level around 2000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • Loose avalanches may step down to deeper layers, resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.

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.