Avalanche Forecast
Avalanche Bulletin - Glacier National Park
Ongoing winds continue to load storm slabs. Extra caution is required when transitioning into exposed and wind-loaded terrain.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Use caution in lee areas in the alpine and treeline. Storm snow is forming reactive slabs.
- If triggered the storm slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
These slabs will be most susceptible to triggering in shallow areas. This type of instability will linger for a while yet. The significant storms seen recently have overloaded these layers, priming slopes to fail only awaiting a trigger.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid thin, rocky or unsupported slopes.
- Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of buried surface hoar.
Avalanche Summary
A natural avalanche cycle occurred yesterday, corresponding to loading from strong daytime winds. A size 3.0 and four size 2-2.5 natural avalanches were recorded in the highway corridor east of Rogers Pass. A size 2.5 was reported in
Connaught drainage in the Cheops North 1 slide path that ran to the valley bottom, nearly hitting the skin track.
Snowpack Summary
Storm snow remains unsettled with up to 50cm of ski penetration. Ongoing southerly winds have created reactive pockets of wind slab in exposed areas. On solar aspects, a well developed crust is buried 40cm. Persistent weak layers from January and December are now buried 150-200cm.
Weather Forecast
Snowy conditions today with 5cm of accumulation. Cool temperatures with an alpine high of -10.0 and westerly winds gusting to 45km/h. A weak low pressure system spreads isolated flurries into late Saturday. On Sunday, cold arctic air replaces the low pressure, with temperatures dipping down to the nether regions of tolerable.
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Natural and skier triggered avalanches are still resulting from this reactive storm slab problem. Loading from moderate to strong southerly winds has increased the likelihood storm slabs being triggered and propagating, especially in exposed areas.