Haines Avalanche Center
Above 2,500ftModerate
1,500 to 2,500ftModerate
Below 1,500ftModerate
Degrees of Avalanche Danger
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.