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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 10th, 2016–Apr 11th, 2016

Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Below Threshold.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Northwest Inland.

Spring conditions typically means hazards are greatest during the heat of the afternoon. Start early and finish early.

Weather Forecast

Expect skies to cloud over on Monday as a weak disturbance arrives overnight Monday. It's a "cold front" so temperatures will cool and freezing level to lower -- looks like freezing level should hover between 100m and 1500m through Wednesday. It's a weak disturbance so only a few millimeters of precipitation is expected unless some localized convective cell happens to form over your valley in which case there might be 10cm of snow at high elevations. A mix of sun & clouds is the general pattern.

Avalanche Summary

With the arrival of spring, field observations and data are very limited in the region. No new avalanche reports does not mean avalanches are not occurring. One should expect cornices to continue to fail, at times triggering avalanches on the slopes below. Similarly, one must expect solar radiation and warm temperatures to weaken the snowpack, triggering loose wet and possibly wet slab avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

Moist or wet snow exists on all aspects at all elevations. Any surface crusts that form overnight will quickly break down during the day. The snowpack's strength is directly related to the thickness and strength of these crusts. Where there are layers in the snowpack, they are generally bonding. A widespread crust/facet layer from early February and depth hoar at the bottom of the snowpack (primarily in northerly & inland areas) are dormant. Strong, thick crusts in the upper parts of the snowpack have limited the reactivity of these old layers; however, they could potentially once again produce isolated yet large avalanches with prolonged periods of warming.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.