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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 24th, 2022–Apr 25th, 2022

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

Purcells.

Warm temperatures overnight may prevent a good re-freeze. Check for 'crust recovery' and be off slopes before they turn mushy or wet.

Confidence

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Weather Forecast

SUNDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear with incoming cloud cover, increasing 15-25 km/h southwest wind, alpine low temperature -2 C. Poor overnight re-freeze expected with freezing level hovering above 2100 m.

MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries, accumulation to 5 cm, 20-30 km/h southwest wind, alpine high temperature +4 C, freezing level reaching 2500 m.

TUESDAY: Wet flurries, 5-10 cm. Light to moderate southwest wind, alpine high temperature +1 C, daytime freezing level rising around 2000 m.

WEDNESDAY: Scattered flurries, 5 cm. West wind gusting to 60 km/h, alpine high temperature +6 C, daytime freezing level rising above 1900 m.

Avalanche Summary

A few small (size 1) skier-triggered slabs occurred Thursday, about 30 cm deep and sliding on a crust. Then on Friday, numerous wet loose avalanches were triggered by warm temperatures on Friday. In some cases, these wet loose avalanches triggered slabs to size 2 (similar to Thursdays skier-triggered slabs), with 30 cm crown depths.

Please consider posting your observations to the Mountain Information Network to supplement our data stream and help fellow recreationists.

Snowpack Summary

Sun and warm temperatures have moistened the snow upwards of 2500 m and on all sun-exposed slopes. Cold, dry snow persists on more north-facing and shaded aspects in the high alpine; in these areas use caution entering steep, and extreme terrain, where lingering wind slabs could be found. At ridge top, remember that cornices are large and looming.

Around 100 to 200 cm deep, faceted grains persist around a hard melt-freeze crust from early December. There's uncertainty on if and when this layer will wake up, but it could during the next intense or prolonged warm-up. Check this recent MIN out, it's possible this could be a deep persistant avalanche.

Terrain and Travel

  • Make observations and assess conditions continually as you travel.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

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.