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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 16th, 2025–Jan 17th, 2025

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

Regions

Purcells, Dogtooth, East Purcell, West Purcell.

Continue to avoid steep, rocky slopes with shallow snow cover.

Steering clear of a persistent avalanche problem requires diligence in conservative terrain selection.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday.

Wind slab avalanche activity was last reported Monday January 13. Check out this MIN for more information on wind slab activity in the Jumbo Pass area. It may still be possible for humans to trigger slabs like this where they overlie a surface hoar layer.

Snowpack Summary

2 to 5 cm of recent snow has likely buried various surfaces of sun-crust, surface hoar, and wind-affected snow. Old wind could still be found in lee features over a slightly deeper surface hoar layer, buried in early January.

A weak layer of facets buried in early December is on average 60 to 90 cm deep. In the shallower eastern parts of the Purcells, this layer is closer to 30 cm deep. This layer continues to cause occasional large avalanches.

The snowpack base consists of a thick crust and facets in many areas.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 2 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Saturday

Partly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C.

Sunday

Mostly sunny. 10 to 20 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -18 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Pay attention to isolated wind affected features in the alpine, as well as cross-loaded features at treeline.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.

Problems

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.

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.