Avalanche Forecast
Avalanche Bulletin - Glacier National Park
The best quality snow can be found on shaded aspects.
Avalanche Problem 1: Wind Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Watch for whumpfing, hollow sounds, and shooting cracks.
- Variable winds have created pockets of wind slab on all aspects.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
70-90cm of settled snow sits on the mid March crust/facet combo. This layer appears to be bonding well on polar aspects. On solar aspects, this layer fails suddenly in stability tests and has shown potential for wide propagation if triggered.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid convexities or areas with a thin or variable snowpack.
- Be aware of the potential for wide propagations which could result in large avalanches.
Avalanche Summary
Yesterday, strong solar input contributed to a widespread natural avalanche cycle on south facing slopes. A field team directly observed a large size 2.5 Na from the Frequent Flyer path in the Connaught Creek drainage. Several large solar triggered avalanches were also observed in the highway corridor east of Rogers Pass, up to size 3.0.
Snowpack Summary
Moist snow found on southern aspects yesterday has refrozen in to a surface crust overnight. 15-20cm of low density powder remains on shaded aspects. Wind slabs are above treeline in lee features. 60cm of recent storm snow is settling out and appears to be bonding well on polar aspects. On solar slopes, the storm slab sits on a persistent crust.
Weather Forecast
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. Trace amounts of precipitation, alpine temperature of -4.0, ridge winds south 10km/hr, and freezing level rising to 1700m. A pacific frontal system will track inland on Saturday bringing 15cm of snow to the Rogers Pass area with freezing levels reaching 1800m. Overcast conditions persist into next week.
Avalanche Forecasts in your Inbox
Avalanche Canada has switched to an RSS feed for its daily forecasts. This is a much more flexible method that allows automatic delivery to your email inbox, or to an RSS reader of your choice.
What are RSS feeds?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a popular standardized file format allowing up-to-date delivery of web-based content. RSS feeds enable you to receive content updates from websites, delivered to your email through an RSS aggregator (such as blogtrottr.com) or viewed through applications called RSS readers (such as feedly.com).
Set up an RSS feed for your email:
Select a RSS aggregator
- Avalanche Bulletin - Glacier National Park URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/glacier.rss - Copy the url and paste it into the appropriate field of your RSS aggregator.
- Fill in your email address.
- Voila! Watch the Avalanche Canada forecast roll into your inbox.
Forecast Disclaimer
Avalanche Canada's Public Avalanche Bulletin, and other information and services provided by Avalanche Canada, are intended for personal and recreational purposes only.
**THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IN NO EVENT SHALL THE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM DISCOMFORT, INJURY, OR DEATH, CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES OR FOR OTHER SIMILAR COSTS, OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE INFORMATION.**
The user acknowledges that it is impossible to accurately predict natural events such as avalanches in every instance, and uses the data in this bulletin with this always foremost in mind. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and the Providers disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use the data.
Recent shifting winds have created easily identifiable wind slabs above treeline. More subtle wind loaded pockets exist in lee features and can easily be triggered by skiers. Watch for these pockets around cornices, wind lips and roll overs.