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GNFAC Avalanche Forecast for Tue Mar 27, 2012

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion

Backcountry conditions will change hourly today, and so will the avalanche problems and avalanche danger.  Any slope that faced the sun and got wet is now capped with a thick ice crust.  The new snow will be bonded to this crust, but near the ridgetops isolated wind slabs could be triggered this morning.  As the day warms, the new snow will easily sluff as wet, loose avalanches. If it gets warm enough to melt the underlying crust, the wet snow avalanche danger will rapidly increase too.

These wet slab avalanches broke today (Mon, 3/23) during the warm, well-above freezing temperatures.  The avalanche on the left broke above the slide that was triggered by a snowmobiler on Friday.  Weak snow at the ground quickly becomes unstable when water hits it. Photo: GNFAC

Bridger Range, 2012-03-26