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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 19th, 2023–Mar 20th, 2023

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

Regions

Glacier.

It feels like Spring!

That means icy mornings followed by increasing hazard as the sun breaks down the surface crust.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A few loose wet avalanches were observed today, up to size 2.0 from steep, rocky features at treeline and above. The predominant avalanche character since Thursday has been loose wet point releases.

On Wednesday, there was a skier triggered size 1.5 slab avalanche reported in the 8812 bowl on a steep, SW-facing feature. It was suspected to have failed on the March 11th crust.

Snowpack Summary

The snowpack has undergone several days of diurnal melt-freeze on solar aspects at all elevations. The 40cm of storm snow from last week has settled and is experiencing surface faceting in areas sheltered from the late March sun.

Below this is a generally strong snowpack, however the basal weakness of rounding facets/decomposing crust persists near the ground and should factor in to your terrain use decisions.

Weather Summary

High pressure will maintain stable weather through to Wednesday.

Tonight: Clear periods. Alpine low -7°C. Light East ridgetop winds.

Monday: Mix of sun and cloud. High -3°C, freezing level (FZL) 1700m. Light E wind.

Tuesday: Mix of sun and cloud. Low -8 °C, High -3 °C. FZL 1700m. Light E wind.

Wednesday: Sunny. Low -4 °C, High -2 °C. FZL 1900m. Light W wind.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid sun exposed slopes, especially if snow surface is moist or wet.
  • Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.

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.