Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Mar 15th, 2016 3:00PM
The alpine rating is Wind Slabs, Deep Persistent Slabs and Cornices.
, the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems includeSummary
Confidence
High
Weather Forecast
Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries tomorrow. The alpine high will be -8 with a 1300m freezing level. Winds will out of the NW and average 40km/hr.
Avalanche Summary
One notable avalanche was seen today. It was a healthy sz2.5 on a north east aspect, alpine feature in the northern part of the forecast region. It was immediately below a large headwall and was at 2400m. The deposit wasn't visible, so the size is an estimate. If it stepped it may be a sz3.
Snowpack Summary
Ongoing convective flurries continue to add the the snowpack daily. At treeline, we now have 20-30cm of recent snow on top of the March 8th layer. This interface is slow to improve, but so far the slab density above it is soft and only a concern in the upper reaches of the treeline zone. The Feb 11th layer is down 40cm and the Feb 27th is down 50-60cm. In all cases the bond is healing, but still something to watch. 2150m seems to be the magic number when it comes to the crusts disappearing. South aspects may vary depending on angle. Interestingly, the Jan 6th layer appears to be getting worse as the surface snow settles and gains some density. At treeline we are finding that layer to be down about 1m and reacting in tests. The alpine is currently going through another windloading event. Slabs from transport and settlement were noted today in any open terrain. The soft slabs are dense enough to propagate in the right terrain (steep & convex).
Problems
Wind Slabs
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Cornices
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Mar 16th, 2016 2:00PM