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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 8th, 2019–Mar 9th, 2019

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

Regions

Northwest Coastal.

Watch for the potential for slab avalanches to affect convex features at treeline elevation.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

FRIDAY NIGHT: No precipitation. Calm winds.SATURDAY: Dry and sunny. Treeline temperatures around -5C. Calm.SUNDAY: Around 15 cm new snow. Freezing level around 700 m. Winds increasing 60-80 km/h from the southwest.MONDAY: Around 25 cm new snow. Freezing level around 800 m. Winds 40-60 km/h from the southwest.

Avalanche Summary

Two small (size 1.5) slab avalanches were triggered by separate ski groups on Thursday, one on a northwest aspect at 1250 m and one on a northwest aspect at 1500 m. Both are thought to have released on the mid-february weak layer buried 30-50 cm below the surface.

Snowpack Summary

Scoured surfaces and aging hard wind slabs can be found on all aspects in exposed terrain after a prolonged period of outflow winds. South facing slopes have sun crusts on the surface.Roughly 30-50 cm of snow sits above a layer of cold, soft faceted snow and surface hoar. This layer has been reactive in some snowpack tests and there have been some small slab avalanches noted on this layer. There is potential for this layer to become a larger problem with additional new snow.The lower snowpack is generally considered strong.

Problems

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.