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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 3rd, 2020–Mar 4th, 2020

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

Regions

Glacier.

We are now back into an active weather pattern with significant new snow and winds forecasted this week. It is a good time to take a step back in terrain selection, and be patient for the Hazard to decrease.

Weather Forecast

A mix of sun and cloud today, strong to extreme winds from the SW, and the freezing level will rise to valley bottom. Tonight will bring around 15cm of new snow as a cold front passes over Rogers Pass from the NW. A break in precipitation on Wednesday, but still very windy, then another 20cm could fall between Thursday morning and Friday Morning!

Snowpack Summary

Strong to Extreme SW winds have built 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 we observed nearly 20 avalanches in the Highway Corridor up to size 3. These avalanches were primarily triggered from Extreme wind loading, and moderate amounts of new snow. There were numerous reports of skier triggered slab avalanches over the weekend up to size 2, failing on the Feb 22nd Surface Hoar layer.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

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.