Cornices
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
- Probabilità
- Possible - Likely
- Dimensione
- 1–2
Cornices are large and fragile this time of year, the new storm will be building them up even further.
Start on small, mellow slopes and watch for signs of instability before approaching steeper or larger slopes.
New snow and wind are building reactive slabs, plus a buried weak layer lurks.
Cornices are large and fragile this time of year, the new storm will be building them up even further.
A crust currently buried 75–150 cm has shown recent spooky reactivity, particularly in the Hurley area and zones to the north. Storm slabs could step down to this layer causing larger than expected avalanches.
Recent storm snow and southwest winds continue to build reactive slabs. Avalanches are expected be larger and more likely on west through north facing (leeward) slopes.
On Monday, northeast of Pemberton, a large (size 2) rider triggered wind slab avalanche was reported on a north facing slope in the alpine. Also, explosives avalanche control produced several small to large (size 1-1.5) avalanches, mostly cornices with some wind slabs. One of the cornice falls also stepped down to a deeper weak layer on the slope below.
Looking forward, we expect that new snow and wind will make human triggered avalanches likely on Wednesday.
15 to 25 cm of new snow is expected by the end of the day on Wednesday. Extreme southwest wind through the night, and moderate to strong wind through the day is expected to form deeper, more reactive deposits in leeward terrain.
This should all add up to 30 to 50 cm of recent storm snow over a widespread, thick and hard crust below about 1800 m, and old wind-affected snow at upper elevations.
A persistent weak layer from early March, consisting of a hard, frozen crust, is currently buried 75–150 cm. This layer has shown isolated reactivity, particularly in the Hurley area and zones north of there.
Tuesday Night
Cloudy. 10 to 15 cm of snow. 70-90 km/h southwest ridgetop wind, decreasing by early morning. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 3 to 10 cm of snow. 30-50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Thursday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
Friday
Mostly sunny. 1 to 3 cm of snow. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.