Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 1st, 2014–Feb 2nd, 2014

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Inland.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Tonight and Sunday: A weak disturbance is forecasted to bring partly cloudy skies, a possibility of a trace of precipitation with light NE winds, surface freezing levels and alpine temperatures around -10 C.Monday: A ridge is keeping the region dry and cold. Expect moderate NE winds, partly cloudy skies and surface freezing levels. Tuesday: The ridge is gaining strength bringing even more dry and cold temperatures.

Avalanche Summary

Skier triggered size 1 slab avalanches were reported yesterday in steep lee features in the Northern part of the region. No new natural avalanches were reported.

Snowpack Summary

5-10 cm of light dry snow now sits above a solid melt-freeze crust at all elevations and all aspects except some very sheltered North aspects. The thin layer of light dry snow is also sitting on a buried the surface hoar layer in isolated areas, but at this time, there is not enough snow above this weak layer to create an avalanche danger. The deep persistent layer of weak facets continues to be a concern in shallow snowpack areas, however the re-frozen upper snowpack may make triggering less likely.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.