Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 20th, 2020–Feb 21st, 2020

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely.

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

Glacier.

Even with low avalanche hazard, little falls have big consequences in extreme terrain.

Weather Forecast

Sunny with cloudy periods this afternoon and no precipitation. Alpine temperature climbs to -7 °C and the freezing level will reach 1200m. Ridge wind SW 20 km/h. Snow is expected with the arrival of a pacific front on Friday night. The current model shows 9cm Saturday, 9cm Sunday and 8cm Monday.

Snowpack Summary

Strong sun followed by an overnight deep freeze left a crust on steep solar aspects. On shaded slopes expect 20-30cm of low density snow over a well settled mid-pack. Variable stubborn wind slab can be found in alpine elevations along ridge-tops and exposed tree-line features. Steep south aspects have a sun crust buried 30-60cm below the surface.

Avalanche Summary

A small natural cycle was observed in the highway corridor from solar aspects with steep rocky start zones. Backcounty users reported seeing additional solar triggered activity yesterday in steep south facing alpine areas. In the Young's Peak area, a large cornice failure occurred within the last 48hrs.

Confidence

Problems

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.