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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 22nd, 2024–Mar 23rd, 2024

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

Regions

Purcells, Dogtooth, East Purcell.

Cooling temperatures are reducing the likelihood of triggering large persistent slab avalanches.

Avoid steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin-to-thick snowpack.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Several naturally triggered wet loose avalanches up to size 1.5 were reported on all aspects below treeline on Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

0 to 10 cm of recent snow overlies predominantly crusty surfaces.

A widespread crust with sugary facets above is down 40 to 110 cm. Steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack at treeline and above are the most likely places to trigger this layer. However, when a thick surface crust is present, human triggering this layer is unlikely.

The bottom of the snowpack is generally weak and faceted, with the potential to produce very large avalanches. The most likely areas to trigger this deeply buried weak layer are steep, rocky areas in the alpine with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack.

Weather Summary

Friday night

Mostly cloudy. 5 to 10 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.

Saturday

Cloudy with isolated flurries, 0 to 3 cm snow. 5 to 10 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Sunday

Mix of sun and cloud. 5 to 10 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C. Freezing level 1100 m.

Monday

Sunny. 5 to 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.
  • Conditions may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.
  • Cornice failure may trigger large avalanches.

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.