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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 28th, 2014–Mar 1st, 2014

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

Regions

Glacier.

With cold temps we should see less natural avalanche activity, but it is still possible to trigger large avalanches. Stay vigilant; stick to conservative terrain and use safe travel practices like regrouping in safe spots.

Weather Forecast

A ridge of high pressure means sunny skies, but arctic air moving into the region today will bring cold temps. Temps are forecast to drop through the day, with a low of -30 tonight and a high of -19 for saturday. Ridgetop winds should be light today, but rising to moderate N/NE tomorrow. On Sunday expect increasing cloud and isolated flurries.

Snowpack Summary

The Jan 28/Feb 10 PWL down 1-1.4m under a cohesive slab, is becoming more difficult to trigger but has high propagation propensity. Avy techs in the Bonney area yesterday had a whumph on this layer off the moraines and hard sudden planar results testing it at 2130m on a NE aspect. A surface sun crust has been found on steep solar aspects.

Avalanche Summary

It's starting to feel like spring. Natural avalanche activity has been occurring from steep solar aspects, producing loose wet avalanches. Numerous size 1.5-2.5 have been observed daily from steep southerly aspects along the highway corridor daily.

Confidence

Problems

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.

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.