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Older Posts
March 12, 2010
Valid until March 14.
DANGER RATINGS (Make sure you understand the danger level meanings)
| Outlook | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine | HIGH |
HIGH |
HIGH |
| Treeline | HIGH |
HIGH |
HIGH |
| Below Treeline | CONSIDERABLE | CONSIDERABLE |
CONSIDERABLE |
Below Treeline areas especially on the East slopes of the Island are becoming below threshold for avalanches. This is not the case however further west as the snowpack deepens.
Confidence: Fair. Conflicting precipitation amounts with current weather models.
Main Concerns:
- New storm snow instabilities
Weather:
Snow for the forecast period. Expect up to 90cms of new snow on the Western Slopes and in the Myra region tapering to amounts up to 60 on the Eastern side of the Island such as the Alexandra / Forbidden Plateau areas. Freezing levels sitting around 900m on average. Strong SE winds on Saturday and Sunday.
Avalanche Activity:
Natural avalanches have been observed up to sz2 in the last 48 hours. Skier triggered avalanche in the burnt ridge area outside of the Mt. Washington ski area boundary. No injuries.
Extensive avalanche cycle has been observed in the last 24hrs.
Snowpack:
New snow instabilities will be the dominant hazard to watch for over the weekend. Lots of new snow with strong SE winds is expected. Up to 60cms of new snow has been observed in the Mt. Washington area and much more expected further to the West. Expect to find widespread windslab in alpine and treeline terrain. This instability will remain unstable for the forecast period as constant snow loading will keep the hazard high. Our new snow will bury the current crop of windslab out there presently creating an instability that may linger for a while.
Terrain Discussion:
Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended. With the heavy snowfalls expect avalanches to run far. A natural avalanche cycle is expected for Friday into Saturday morning during the most intense snowfall period. The temptation to ski our new fresh snow with low freezing levels will be high. Remember that previous windslabs will be buried under this new snow, these can be hard to assess and are expected to be widespread.
Outlook:
Snow over the forecast period with a some sun possibly on Monday
