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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 12th, 2022–Apr 13th, 2022

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

Northwest Coastal.

Heightened avalanche conditions exist on wind-loaded slopes after strong outflow winds have hammered the region.

Confidence

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the speed, direction, or duration of the wind and its effect on the snowpack.

Weather Forecast

TUESDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies, no precipitation, 30-50 km/h wind from the northeast, treeline temperature drop to -15 C.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny, no precipitation, 20-40 km/h wind from the northeast, treeline temperatures reach -10 C.

THURSDAY: Sunny, no precipitation, light wind from the northeast, treeline temperatures reach -7 C.

FRIDAY: Mostly sunny, light wind from the east, treeline temperatures reach -5 C.

Avalanche Summary

Early reports from Tuesday suggest the strong outflow wind caused some large natural avalanches in steep terrain near Stewart. Over the weekend there were a few large natural cornice, wind slab, and dry loose avalanches (size 2-2.5), and one small human-triggered wind slab (size 1). While this past activity was focused on northeast-facing slopes, the wind slab problem has since shifted to west aspects.

Snowpack Summary

Open terrain has been affected by strong outflow wind that has scoured east-facing slopes and loaded snow onto west-facing slopes. Sheltered areas may still have soft snow. Above 1200 m, 80 to 120 cm of settled storm snow rests on a hard melt-freeze crust from late March. The snow has been bonding to this crust.

Note that cornices are very large and exposure to them should be minimized, especially during warm or windy weather.

Terrain and Travel

  • Stay off recently wind loaded slopes until they have had a chance to stabilize.
  • Cornices often break further back than expected; give them a wide berth when traveling on ridgetops.

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.