Haines Avalanche Center

Forecast Expired - 2019-03-09

Above 2,500ftModerate

1,500 to 2,500ftModerate

Below 1,500ftModerate

Degrees of Avalanche Danger

Avalanche Problems

Problem 1

Persistent Slab:

Likelihood:

  • Almost Certain
  • Very Likely
  • Likely
  • Possible
  • Unlikely

Size:

  • Historic
  • Very Large
  • Large
  • Small

Trend

  • Increasing
  • Steady
  • Decreasing

Avalanche Activity

The last activity was from last week's warm period, when ample natural wet slides came down from steep, sun-blasted terrain. These loose-wet and wet-slabs were mostly size D2 and occurring in the early afternoon. There were a few skier-triggered persistent slabs in White Pass, which ran on old facets around 60-90cm deep. This shows that south aspects really woke up during the warm weather.

Weather

Feb. 25-28 was unusually warm. Temperatures spiked up to 46F at 4600ft, and stayed above freezing for 48+hours, causing a wet slide cycle. Since then it has been clear and cold with occasional moderate NW winds. A strong front will move in Saturday, with heavy snow Saturday night. 1-2" of SWE is expected by Sunday night(1-2ft of new snow above 1000ft) with snow levels rising to around 1000ft Sunday.

   Snow Depth [in] Last 24-hr Snow/SWE [in] Last 5-days Snow/SWE [in]  Today's Freezing Level [ft]  Today's Winds Next 24-hr Snow/SWE
Mount Ripinsky @ treeline
 58" 0" / 0.00 0" / 0.00  0 light, SE 9" / 0.80     *
Flower Mountain @ treeline
 41" 0" / 0.00 0" / 0.00  0 light, SE 7" / 0.60     *
Chilkat Pass @ 3,100ft
 26" 0" / 0.00  0" / 0.00  0 light, SE 5" / 0.40    *

( *star means meteorological estimate )

Additional Information

If you get out riding, please send in an observation!

Do a rescue practice with your partners. Always carry a beacon, shovel, and probe, and KNOW HOW TO USE THEM.

Practice good risk management, which means only expose one person at a time to slopes 30 degrees and steeper, make group communication and unanimous decision making a priority, and choose your terrain wisely: eliminating unnecessary exposure and planning out your safe zones and escape routes.