Avalanche Forecast
Avalanche Bulletin - Glacier National Park
Avoid steep solar aspects if the sun is shinning as this will increase the avalanche danger. Have a dig into the upper snowpack and look for weak layers before committing to the line.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Use caution in steeper terrain. Avoid unsupported features on the landscape.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Several sun crusts are buried within the top 50 cms on steep solar aspects. These layers have the potential for human triggering, dig down and assess the snowpack before committing to the line.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Carefully evaluate terrain features by digging and testing on adjacent, safe slopes.
- Minimize exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.
Avalanche Summary
A small cycle occurred yesterday on steep solar aspects when the sun was shinning, expect this to be an increasing trend with sun in the forecast.
Earlier this week a large cornice failure released a size 3.5 avalanche running to valley bottom. This cornice triggered slide was an anomaly, but a good reminder to stay vigilant in large terrain.
Snowpack Summary
Expect to find several crust layers on steep solar aspects in the top 50cm of snow. ~30cm of recent snow overlies previous wind slab in the alpine. The late Feb facet layer is down ~50cm and the mid Jan persistent weak layer is down ~1-2m. A well settled base contains early season crusts, which are starting to break down in some areas.
Weather Forecast
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries for the day with a temperature range of 0 to -9, 10-25km/h southerly winds and a freezing level rising to 1450m. 10-15cm of forecasted snow tonight and into Friday. There will be a clearing trend arriving over weekend and will continue into next week. Clear skies, light winds and no snow is our near future.
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Isolated storm slabs could be found at ridgetop or features exposed to the wind. Solar radiation will trigger loose dry avalanches on steep sunny slopes and cliffs. These "sluffs" could trigger a soft slab or step down to a persistent weak layer.