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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 19th, 2019–Jan 20th, 2019

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

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The Bottom Line: The recent snow still needs time to stabilize. It remains possible to trigger an avalanche at mid and upper elevations on slopes 35 degrees and steeper. Asses upper snowpack layers carefully before venturing into steeper terrain.

Snow and Avalanche Discussion

Since Thursday, neighboring zones received up to 2.5in of water with snow levels near 4000ft. This translated into 12-18in of snow at mid and upper elevations. At lower elevations, a few inches of wet, heavy snow accumulated, while all rain fell below 3500ft. No avalanches were reported on Saturday. Natural and triggered avalanches were reported Friday. These avalanches broke 1-2ft deep at the old/new interface or just above within new snow layers. Avalanches occurred between 4500-5500ft primarily on northerly aspects. Some avalanches were large enough to bury a person (200ft wide and running 400ft feet downslope) but most avalanches were small. The old snow surface is a firm crust that acted as a productive bed surface. New snow instabilities are of most concern above 4500ft where this old snow surface stayed dry. Below this elevation, the new snow appears to have bonded well to old snow surfaces that remained moist/wet. Cooling temperatures over the next 24 hours will solidify the snowpack at lower elevations.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.