Storm Slabs
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Likely
- Dimensione
- 1–2
Another round of snow arrived last night after a brief break in the weather yesterday. The mountains near Seward and Lost Lake received 2 to 4" last night, and another 4 to 6" is expected by the end of the day. The series of storms that has been impacting the area over the past week has been tricky to predict, bringing heavy precipitation to isolated areas at times. Places that end up on the higher end of the precipitation forecast today will see higher avalanche danger. We're in an extended period of active weather, and the avalanche conditions are dangerous as a result. Travel cautiously if you are getting out to enjoy all of this new snow, and avoid traveling on or below steep terrain while the snowpack adjusts to this new load.
The main concerns today include everything we associate with new snow. This includes storm slabs for places seeing 10 to 12" new snow, wind slabs 2' deep or deeper at elevations above treeline, and loose snow avalanches in any steep terrain. These loose snow avalanches will become very likely if the sun makes any kind of appearance. Be on the lookout for steep solar aspects if the clouds break up at all during the day, especially on slopes with trees or rocks that will heat up quickly.
This latest round of snow will continue to add weight to the weak layer of buried surface hoar that has been a concern for nearly two months, slightly increasing the chances of making a much larger avalanche. More on this in Problem 2 below.
Cornice Fall: Cornices have been growing during the active weather over the past week. These can release naturally, and may trigger larger avalanches on slopes below. Limit spending time below cornices, and give them plenty of space if you are travelling along ridgelines.
(4/3/2025)
Large natural cornice fall near Lost Lake. This was prior to the series of storms that has impacted the area since late last week, but we expect similar activity to remain likely.
Photo: Daniel Krueger