Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Dec 13th, 2011 8:44AM
The alpine rating is Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
, the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems includeSummary
Confidence
Fair - Intensity of incoming weather is uncertain
Weather Forecast
Wednesday: Expect a weak ridge to develop during the day, giving dry conditions. Clouds will build in the evening with the chance of flurries overnight. Winds should be light and westerly with temperatures reaching -5. Thursday: A chance of flurries with continued westerlies and afternoon temps reaching -5. Expect a ridge to build late in the day and winds to turn northwest. Friday: Dry and predominantly clear, with northwest winds and temperatures reaching -5.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches.
Snowpack Summary
5-10cm of new snow has fallen since the 10th of December. This overlies surface hoar, surface facets, old windslabs and sun crusts (on steep south through west aspects). Winds have been sporadic in this period, creating isolated new soft slabs in immediate lee locations. Moving forward, the avalanche danger will increase as the load increases (either by new snow or wind). Be locally aware of changes and if obvious signs of instability are present (cracking, whumphing, recent activity on adjacent slopes) or rapid loading is taking place (heavy snowfall or strong winds) then scale down your terrain choices accordingly. Snow depths are quite variable through the region with 130-150cm in the alpine. There is still concern for triggering the weak basal facets/depth hoar, as these layers have shown sudden collapse results in stability test in shallow areas.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Dec 14th, 2011 8:00AM