Summit Lake

Problèmes avalancheux

• 

  Storm Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Very Likely

  Taille

  2–3

  From Girdwood to Seward strong winds and heavy rain are being seen this morning. Snow appears to be falling above 2,000' in most areas except Summit Lake where the rain/snow line is closer to 1,500'. This storm is packing more of a punch than those last week and we are expecting larger and more widespread avalanches as a result. 

  At elevations above 1,500-2,000' where heavy snowfall is occurring we can expect that storm snow avalanches are happening. These would be in the form of storm slabs, wind slabs, and loose snow avalanches. Due to such strong winds, most of these will likely be some kind of wind slab. These avalanches could be anywhere from a foot thick to several feet thick depending on winds and snowfall. As mentioned above, as the storm continues, traveling on or under slopes 30 degrees or steeper (avalanche terrain) is not recommended. 

  Wet Avalanches: Expect wet loose avalanches to be occurring anywhere rain is falling. For the Summit Lake area that could be up to 2,000' by the end of today. 

  Rough guess at snowfall totals above 2,000':Girdwood Valley:  4-12" yesterday, another 20-30" todayPortage Valley:  20-30" yesterday, another 30-50" todayTurnagain Pass:  1-3" yesterday, another 15-20" todaySummit lake:  1-2" yesterday, another 10-15" todaySeward/Lost Lake:  4-10" yesterday, another 20-30" today

  

• 

  Persistent Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Likely

  Taille

  2–3

  The weak, faceted snow buried at the ground will get overloaded today and we could see very large avalanches occur. This is just another reason to be very careful to stay away from any type of steeper slope. There were several of these large slabs that released near the ground with the stormy weather last week, which is evidence the same is likely to happen with this storm. 

  

• 

  Glide Cracks

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Possible

  Taille

  2–3

  The wet weather is causing many glide cracks to release into ugly looking avalanches. We can expect this trend to continue today and likely the next several days. During the brief break in weather Saturday, we saw new glide avalanches on Max's, Sunburst, and in Main Bowl on the backside of Seattle Ridge. There are so many brown streaks indicating glide avalanches sometimes it's hard to tell what is new and what is old. But the main story is they are still releasing in areas commonly traveled and that's a concern.