One glide avalanche reported in the Girdwood Valley yesterday.
|Signal Word||Size (D scale)||Simple Descriptor|
|Small||1||Unlikely to bury a person|
|Large||2||Can bury a person|
|Very Large||3||Can destroy a house|
|Historic||4 & 5||Can destroy part or all of a village|
Moderate winds have been consistent for the past several days, and will likely continue today at 10-20mph from the east. These wind speeds in combination with new snow in the alpine over the past three days may create wind slabs in the lee of ridges and gullies. Pay close attention to which direction the wind is blowing, and to signs indicating which direction the wind has blown in the past. Whumphing, cracking in the snow around you, and hollow sounds are some indicators you could be on a windslab.
Cornices continue to develop – give them plenty of space to prevent triggering from above, and limit exposure when traveling in the runout.
Sunburst weather station data from the past week of windy weather.
Glide avalanches are unpredictable and not triggered by people. Yet there are several cracks in the Girdwood Valley and a few on Tincan in Turnagain Pass. Often, when one occurs that can be sign there could be more. There was a glide avalanche cycle in the Girdwood Valley at the end of last week and a few cracks have opened on Tincan. If you see signs of glide cracks give them a wide berth and limit time in their runout.
In the Summit Lake area and in parts of the advisory area that have an overall shallower snowpack in the Alpine, there could be suspect layers of weak faceted snow that sit either in the mid-snowpack or base of the pack. This is above 3000′, where the snow is dryer. We have limited data from upper elevation terrain and will looking to gain more information on this.
Yesterday: Mostly to partly cloudy skies were over the region. Light rain in the morning and evening added between .2 – .4″ of rain below 1,500′ and 2-4″ of snow above this and into the Alpine. Ridgetop winds remained easterly and averaged in the 15-20 mph range. Temperatures have cooled slightly overnight and are sitting in the mid 30’sF at sea level and the mid 20’s F along the ridgelines.
Today: Again partly cloudy to cloudy skies are forecast with a chance for light rain showers below 1,400′ and snow above this in some areas. Favored locations could see 2-3″ of snow by tonight at the mid and upper elevations, other areas could see clearing skies. Ridgetop winds should stay in the 10-20 mph range from an easterly direction. Temperatures look to continue on a cooling trend with the snow line creeping down to just below 1,000′ overnight where light precipitation could bring another 2″ of snow.
Tomorrow: Intermittent snow showers (with a snow line around 1,000′) should continue through tomorrow until skies clear and we head into a cold clear period that extends through the weekend.
PRECIPITATION 24-hour data (6am – 6am)
|Temp Avg (F)||Snow (in)||Water (in)||Snow Depth (in)|
|Center Ridge (1880′)||33||2||0.3||32|
|Summit Lake (1400′)||33||0||0||7|
|Alyeska Mid (1700′)||33||2||0.36||17|
RIDGETOP 24-hour data (6am – 6am)
|Temp Avg (F)||Wind Dir||Wind Avg (mph)||Wind Gust (mph)|
|Seattle Ridge (2400′)||N/A*||N/A*||N/A*||N/A*|
*Seattle Ridge weather station is down and as soon as the weather clears we will get it up and running!
|05/06/20||Turnagain||Avalanche: Pastoral Peak, north face||Andy Duenow|
|04/10/20||Turnagain||Avalanche: Wolverine||Mike Records|
|04/10/20||Turnagain||Observation: Eddies lookers right shoulder||Matt Yoder|
|04/09/20||Turnagain||Observation: Bench Peak||Mike Records|
|04/04/20||Turnagain||Observation: Pete’s North||Anonymous|
|03/26/20||Turnagain||Avalanche: Tincan – Proper (SW facing)||CNFAIC Staff|
|03/26/20||Turnagain||Avalanche: Seattle Ridge||W Wagner Forecaster|
|03/25/20||Turnagain||Avalanche: Sunburst Uptrack @ 2000′||J. Boisvert|
|03/24/20||Turnagain||Observation: Turnagain – Road Observations||W Wagner Forecaster|
Status of riding areas across the Chugach NF is managed by the Glacier and Seward Ranger Districts, not avalanche center staff. Riding area information is posted as a public service to our users and updated based on snow depth and snow density to prevent resource damage at trailhead locations. Riding area questions contact: firstname.lastname@example.org
|Area||Status||Weather & Riding Conditions|
This is a general backcountry avalanche advisory issued for Turnagain Arm with Turnagain Pass as the core advisory area. This advisory does not apply to highways, railroads or operating ski areas.