Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 4th, 2020–Mar 5th, 2020

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Glacier.

Heads up! Things are spicy today!

Extreme winds fired up a natural avalanche cycle last night. The widespread surface windslab is easily triggered by humans and is enough additional load to cause the Feb 22 surface hoar/suncrust to wake up.

Weather Forecast

A short-lived ridge builds today, then is overrun by minor disturbances Thurs/Fri.

Today: Mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries, mod W winds gusting extreme, Alpine high of -12*C

Thurs: Flurries amounting to 10cm, mod SW winds gusting strong, Alpine high of -5*C

Fri: Flurries amounting to 5cm, light SW winds gusting strong, Alpine high of -5*C

Snowpack Summary

Continuing Strong to Extreme SW winds are building windslabs in open terrain features at all elevations. The February 22nd persistent weak layer is now buried down 60-70cm, and consists of 3-7mm surface hoar on all aspects up to 2450m, and a crust on solar aspects. No other layers are currently active in the mid and lower snowpack.

Avalanche Summary

In the last 24 hours, many avalanches in the Highway Corridor up to size 3 were observed, primarily triggered from Extreme wind loading and moderate snowfall. There are numerous reports of skier triggered and natural slab avalanches within the park and from our nearest neighbors, many with slab depths stepping down to 50-70cm deep.

Confidence

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.