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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 9th, 2018–Mar 10th, 2018

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

Regions

Glacier.

Storm slabs are running naturally this morning with the help of strong winds. Expect another pulse of avalanche activity when the afternoon sun comes out.

Weather Forecast

Scraps of an upper cold front give isolated flurries today with trace amounts of precipitation. Increasing sunshine this afternoon as the front is replaced with a ridge of high pressure and warming temperatures. Freezing levels at 1100m. Expect 20km/h westerly winds with the occasional strong gust. Freezing levels climb to 2500m early next week.

Snowpack Summary

15cm of new snow arrived overnight with moderate to strong southerly winds. This sits atop a reactive storm layer that is 30-40cm deep. Expect to see recent cornice growth and additional wind loading on lee aspects. A crust buried 60cm is present on steep solar aspects. Deep persistent weak layers are dormant and buried over 1.5m.

Avalanche Summary

We are in the middle of a natural avalanche cycle. Activity peaked this morning with strong southerly winds transporting the new snow that fell last night. Several size 2.5 to 3.0 natural avalanches were observed in the highway corridor east of Rogers Pass.

Confidence

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.