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 20th, 2015–Mar 21st, 2015

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Olympics.

There may be some shallow storm and wind slab above treeline by Saturday morning. Any new snow that does fall will be susceptible to sunbreaks later Saturday afternoon, so use extra caution on steeper solar slopes near and above treeline. 

Detailed Forecast

A frontal system will bring light rain and snow to the Olympics Friday night and should be followed by a cooling trend and showers Saturday morning.

There may be some shallow storm and wind slab above treeline by Saturday morning. Any new snow that does fall will be susceptible to sunbreaks later Saturday afternoon, so use extra caution on steeper solar slopes above treeline. 

Due to the low snowpack, especially below treeline, watch for terrain hazards such as open creeks, partially covered rocks and vegetation. Many areas below treeline do not have enough snow to cause an avalanche danger.

Snowpack Discussion

Last Sunday winter returned with a welcome 16-18 inches of new snow at the NWAC Hurricane Ridge station. A frontal boundary stalled over southern British Columbia brought occasional light rainfall to Hurricane Ridge on Thursday and Friday with the snowline likely extending above 6000 feet. Rainfall and mild temperatures later this week helped stabilize and consolidate the briefly resurgent snowpack. Hurricane Ridge webcams as of Friday afternoon showed bare patches returning. 

NWAC observer Tyler Reid toured above Hurricane Ridge on Tuesday and reported about 1-2 feet of wet snow with up to 3 feet in drifts near ridges. There were numerous recent small loose wet avalanches seen on all aspects with a few larger avalanches. Avalanches ran into ares with little or now snow cover.

Loose wet avalanche debris size 2 on Tuesday, March 17th, above the tunnels on road to Hurricane Ridge. Photo by Tyler Reid.

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.

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.