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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 18th, 2024–Mar 19th, 2024

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

Regions

Coquihalla, Manning, Skagit.

Continue to minimize your exposure to avalanche terrain and avoid overhead hazard until cooler weather arrives.

Human-triggered loose wet avalanches remain likely on steep solar slopes.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported on Sunday. However, observations are currently limited.

Wet avalanche activity has been observed this week up to size 2.5. Avalanches were only observed in the recent storm snow and not reported to have stepped down to the buried weak layers.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find moist or wet snow at all elevations except the highest north facing terrain. 30 to 50 cm of moist snow overlies a variety of layers including a thin sun crust on south aspects.

Two weak layers of surface hoar, facets and a crust exist, buried 60 to 120 cm deep. While these have not produced recent avalanche activity concern remains about the possibility of step down avalanches.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Clear skies. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +5 °C with freezing levels remaining above 3000 m.

Tuesday

Sunny. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +4 °C with freezing levels falling to 2500 m over the day.

Wednesday

Partly cloudy. 25 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing levels fall to 2000 m over the day.

Thursday

Cloudy with 1 to 7 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Freezing levels 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Minimize overhead exposure; avalanches triggered by warming or cornice fall may be large and destructive.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
  • Keep in mind that wet avalanches can be destructive due to their high density.

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.

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.