Bulletin d’avalanche

Bulletin d’avalanche

Payette Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

Alpin
2 · Modéré
Limite forestière
2 · Modéré
Sous la limite
3 · Marqué
Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 5 years ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

Today is going to be a mixed bag of avalanche problems.  The avalanche hazard will be rising with new, and windblown snow in the upper elevations.  The highest hazard is going to be in lower elevation areas where the snowpack is becoming saturated by rain this morning.  Roads and highways in river canyons may be impacted by this storm.  Expect to see shallow storm and wind slabs forming in the upper elevations, these will be forming on slick sun crusts on multiple aspects and will have a hard time bonding to the old snow surface.  We have experienced some great, low hazard conditions over the last 2 weeks, now it is time to start thinking about avalanche problems again as conditions change back to winter.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    1

    Light snow accumulations are predicted today and tonight but wind will be a major factor in the upper elevations.  The new snow is falling on a variety of old snow surfaces including some slick crusts on the aspects that have been baked by the sun for the last 2 weeks.  As new and windblown snow piles up today expect to see some very touchy shallow storm slabs forming.  Lower elevations are going to see some wet, heavy snow and possibly some rain through the day.  Upper elevations should remain all snow but it could be pretty wet.  Pay attention to changing conditions and how the new snow is bonding to the old snow below.

    7 am snow stake at Tamarack mid-mountain. 30 degrees and snowing.

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Likely
    Taille
    1–2

    Rain on snow is never a good thing, heavy rains are saturating the low elevation snowpack this morning and will be further weakening an already warm snowpack.  This is exactly the kind of weather that produces large avalanches in our local river canyons such as the South Fork Drainage and the lower reaches of the Lick Creek Canyon.  With snowlines creeping up close to 7000 feet this morning, the possibility of natural wet loose avalanches will increase in the lower elevations.  The possibility of wet slab avalanches will be something to consider if you are in steep terrain below the 7000 ft mark today as well.

    Generally speaking, wet loose avalanches tend to be relatively small and manageable, but as temperatures increase or rain is added,  the snow warms deeper into the snowpack, and bonds within it begin to fail.  Wet slabs and larger wet, loose avalanches become more likely. These types of avalanches also tend to be more unpredictable than dry snow avalanches as they can fail on their own as the snowpack loosens or water percolates down to old crusts or weak layers.

     

     

     

Avalanche Discussion

If you see or trigger avalanche activity, please take the time to snap a picture and note the approximate elevation and aspect, you can submit an observation on our website. Getting your info helps forecasters and other users get a better picture of the conditions throughout our mountains. If you have trouble using our observations page, please email us at: [email protected]   Please be mindful of other users in the mountains, and where you are at. There are closures for motorized travel in and around the local ski areas, in the Lick Creek Canyon,  Granite Mtn, Jug Mountain, and other areas throughout our region.  Check out the Winter Travel Map to find out where you can shred on your sled or moto.   Not all of these areas are signed, it is your responsibility to know where these closures exist.