Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 11th, 2018–Mar 12th, 2018

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

Regions

South Rockies.

Freezing levels above the mountain tops and sunny skies are warming the snowpack, particularly around midday. Best to avoid sunny slopes and overhead avalanche terrain. Read our blog on the impact of warming.

Confidence

Moderate - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain

Weather Forecast

MONDAY: Sunny, light southwesterly winds, alpine temperature 1 C, freezing level rising to 2500 m.TUESDAY: Sunny, light southwesterly winds, alpine temperature 3 C, freezing level 3000 m.WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny, light southwesterly winds, alpine temperature 3 C, freezing level 2500 m.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous small loose avalanches were noted on solar aspects on Saturday with strong solar input.  The forecast warming and sunshine may wake up a deeper weak layer on steep south facing slopes resulting in large and destructive avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

20 cm of recent storm snow is settling rapidly with warm daytime temperatures.  Expect moist snow on solar aspects and on all aspects up to 1400 m.Cornices are large and prone to failure with warm air temperatures and sunny skies.The upper/mid-pack is generally well-settled and strong.  The lower snowpack is weak with a combination of crusts and facets near the bottom of the snowpack that are widespread. The primary concern looking ahead is the potential of these deeper persistent weak layers becoming active by rapid warming of the snowpack through rising freezing levels and intense solar radiation. This is most likely to occur on south-facing slopes.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.

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.