Avalanche forecast

Taranaki

New Zealand Avalanche Advisory
View on map

Avalanche danger

High Alpine · above 1,800 m
2 · Moderate
Alpine · 1,200 m–1,800 m
2 · Moderate
Sub Alpine · below 1,200 m
No rating
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 3 days ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Variable conditions across the mountain with this weather providing us a melt-freeze cycle.

Avalanche problems

  • Wet Slabs

    • All elevations
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1.5

    Variable conditions are the theme for the next few days, with a reasonable melt-freeze cycle happening. What this means is firm conditions in the early hours of the morning and early evening. North facing aspects will be the first to see a change during the day as ambient heat and the sun affect these slopes. This can cause potential surface cohesion loss, providing us with this avalanche risk. So general care and trip planning are required when navigating the alpine environment on the mountain. Be prepared to change plans depending on how the snowpack changes with the current weather.

Recent Avalanche Activity

Several small wet avalanches have been observed across multiple aspects caused by the rain-on-snow event. Most avalanches stopped around mid-track.

Current Snowpack Conditions

70mm of Rain over the last 24 hours below 1800m has penetrated the upper part of the snowpack, which has made it very wet. This is causing it to lose cohesion and produce small surface avalanches. Cold temperatures over Sunday night have provided a reasonable freeze to the surface layers, making all aspects and elevations below 2000m firm. Surface conditions will continue to go through a melt-freeze cycle with this weather pattern.

Mountain Weather

Moderate southwesterly winds for Monday and mainly clear skies. Similar for Tuesday but turning to the west and then developing showers. The freezing level will rise to around the 2300m mark both days.

Sliding Danger

Firm in the mornings and evenings with the cooler temperatures.

Forecast Confidence

High

  • The snowpack structure is well understood.
  • We have a good understanding of the snowpack structure and confidence in the weather forecast.

New Zealand Avalanche Advisory (NZ Mountain Safety Council)

Regions covered