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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 9th, 2020–Mar 11th, 2020

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

Regions

Yukon.

New snow accumulating Sunday night and Monday arrived with moderate southerly wind. This new snow is now obscuring previous widespread wind effect. As a result wind slabs will continue to be the main concern.

Confidence

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Weather Forecast

MONDAY Night: Cloudy with scattered flurries, accumulation 2-5 cm. Light to moderate southwest wind. Alpine temperature around -8. 

TUESDAY: Cloudy with scattered flurries, accumulation 2-5 cm. Light west wind. Alpine temperature around -7.

WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries. Light north wind. Alpine temperature around -12.

THURSDAY: Mainly sunny. Light to moderate north wind. Alpine temperature around -18.

Avalanche Summary

There are no new reports of avalanche activity over the past few days.

Reports from late last week include natural avalanches reaching the Klondike highway during the wind event and start zones were reloading Thursday. 

Snowpack Summary

Approximately 5-15 cm of new snow fell on Monday and has been redistributed by primarily southerly winds. This snow now obscures widespread wind effect from last week's extreme wind event. The distribution, size and depth of slabs from that event is highly variable. There may be lingering wind slabs in areas we traditionally think of as sheltered.

At White Pass the snowpack is roughly 200 cm thick with a strong mid and lower snowpack. Thin snowpack areas further inland may have a shallower snowpack composed of sugary faceted grains. Lower elevations have a melt freeze crust near the surface.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid freshly wind loaded features, especially near ridge crests, roll-overs and in steep terrain.
  • Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.
  • Use extra caution around cornices: they are large, fragile, and can trigger slabs on slopes below.
  • Seek out sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been wind-affected.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.