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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 16th, 2012–Feb 17th, 2012

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

Regions

Northwest Coastal.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Friday: Trace amounts of snow / light to moderate southwest winds / Freezing level at 700m Saturday: Trace amounts of snow / moderate to strong easterly winds / Freezing level at 600m Sunday: Trace amounts of snow / light southerly winds / freezing level at 600m

Avalanche Summary

A size 1 skier-triggered wind slab was observed on a northeast alpine feature on Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

Light amounts of recent snowfall now sit on top of a strong melt freeze crust that exists below 1000m on all aspects and wind-pressed powder on shaded alpine features. Variable winds have redistributed surface snow into isolated pockets of wind slab on a variety of aspects in the alpine, although the reactivity of these windslabs has been most recently described as stubborn. The aforementioned new snow may overly buried a surface hoar layer (crystal size reported to be 1-4 mm) at treeline and below. This surface hoar layer seems most prevalent in protected inland areas. Deeper within the snowpack, a facet layer buried around Jan 20th is the greatest concern although triggering seems unlikely. This layer lies approximately 110-140 cm below the surface and still exhibits hard, sudden planar results in isolated snowpack tests.

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.