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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 4th, 2014–Feb 5th, 2014

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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

South Rockies.

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Confidence

Fair - Wind effect is extremely variable

Weather Forecast

Tonight and Wednesday: A ridge of high pressure is bringing cold and clear conditions. Strong winds from the E-NE are forecasted, mainly clear skies and temperatures around -25 C.Thursday: The ridge remains dominant bringing similar conditions except moderate winds becoming light from the NE and slightly warmer temperatures (-15 C).Friday: Similar conditions with lighter winds.

Avalanche Summary

Natural small loose snow avalanches were observed today out of extreme terrain. Yesterday, isolated pillows of wind slab formed in the immediate lee of ridge crests and were reactive to the weight of a skier. Small loose dry avalanches were also triggered by ski cuts in steep terrain features.

Snowpack Summary

5-10 cm of recent snow overlie a variety of surfaces from well developed surface hoar, to old unreactive wind slabs or a melt-freeze crust on previously sun-exposed slopes. Today, there has been some windslab development from N and NE winds, but there is still lots of loose snow available for transport.  With the forecasted strong winds tomorrow, expect more and probably touchier windslabs, especially in the alpine and below ridgetop at treeline on S and SW aspects. Weak faceted snow exists in the lower snowpack, particularly in areas where the snowpack is thinner. Although these weaknesses still appear in some snowpack tests, avalanches at this interface have become unlikely to trigger.

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.