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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 30th, 2016–Mar 31st, 2016

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

Regions

Glacier.

Mild overnight alpine temps prevented a good overnight recovery. The sun and warm temps today will quickly break down crusts. Be very cautious on slopes where the snow is becoming moist. On steep solar aspects avalanche danger may rise to High.

Weather Forecast

A strong ridge of high pressure will bring strong sun and warm temps. Today alpine temps of 4'C with freezing levels to 2500m and generally light winds will rapidly break down the surface crust. Overnight a weak temp inversion will prevent a strong recovery. Thursday and Friday will be similar with freezing levels rising to 2800m.

Snowpack Summary

A spring melt-freeze cycle is just beginning on solar aspects and at lower elevations. Where it exists the surface crust is still relatively thin and will break down quickly. On shaded aspects the snow remained dry yesterday but that will change today. There are multiple crusts in the top meter. Wind slabs can be found in alpine lee features.

Avalanche Summary

Solar and warm temperatures have been triggering loose wet avalanches, as well as slab avalanches up to size 3 over the past few days. Recent activity has been primarily from sun exposed slopes, as temps had remained relatively cool at higher elevations with good overnight recoveries. Glide crack releases and cornice failures have been occurring.

Confidence

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.