Blah

Location Name: 
Forecaster Observation - Whitefish Range
Observation date: 
Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 15:15
Is this an Avalanche Observation: 
Yes
Observation made by: Forecaster

Tabs

Quick Observation

I paid a very short visit to the WMR sidecountry to look for recent avalanches and see how wet the snowpack is getting.

  • Observed roughly 5 natural avalanches. 3 of which were large (D2). All of the debris piles from these slides were wet. Crowns from 2/28 were barely visible.
  • Observed one crown higher up in the Skook chutes. Appeared to be roughly 2 feet thick and a little crisper looking than the ones reported on the 28th. 
  • Water has reached the mid-January crust at middle elevations. 
  • It was easy to trigger wet loose avalanches with a toss of a snowball at roughly 6000 feet. Snow was entraining the top few inches and gaining momentum quickly for the small slopes I was doing this on. 
  • The snowline was around 6400 feet. 
Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Images: 
Travel Details
Region: 
Whitefish Range - Southern (south of Coal Creek)
Activity: 
Skiing
Snowpack Details
Snowpack and Weather Details: 
Hide Terrain
Elevation of observation: 
5000-6500 ft
Red Flags: 
Avalanches from the past 2 days
Rain on snow
Rapid or prolonged warming
Persistent Weak Layers: 
Facets or Faceted Crust
Buried
More comments about the snowpack and weather: 
Top 6 inches of snow was very wet. Transition to wet and moist down to mid January crust. It was pretty evident that water has reached that crust. Dry snow below.
Avalanche Details
Avalanche Details: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - 09:00
Number of avalanches: 
3
Avalanche Type: 
Wet Loose
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
New/old snow interface
More information or comments about the avalanche: 

Poor view of these slides. I could not get a better view without unnecessary exposure to overhead hazard. 

Hide Trigger
Trigger: 
natural
Hide Terrain
Start Zone Slope Angle: 
40
Aspect: 
Southwest
Starting Elevation: 
near-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D2 Could bury, injure, or kill a person.
Relative Size: 
R3 Medium
Avalanche Location: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Monday, February 28, 2022 - 12:00
Number of avalanches: 
1
Avalanche Type: 
Soft Slab
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
New/old snow interface
More information or comments about the avalanche: 

Unknown. Assuming D2 by width and depth of crown. Uncertain if this is what caused the debris below, or if this ran earlier in the storm and wet debris is covering previous debris. Possible dry slab entraining wet snow? Or wet slab?

Hide Terrain
Start Zone Slope Angle: 
40
Aspect: 
Southwest
Starting Elevation: 
near-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D2 Could bury, injure, or kill a person.
Relative Size: 
R3 Medium
Crown Height: 
2 ft
Avalanche Width (Average width): 
200ft.
Avalanche Location: 
Date and Time of Avalanche: 
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - 08:00
Number of avalanches: 
6
Avalanche Type: 
Wet Loose
Failure Plane/Weak Layer: 
Within storm snow
More information or comments about the avalanche: 

Numerous other D1 size wet loose avalanches observed. 

Hide Terrain
Start Zone Slope Angle: 
40
Aspect: 
West
Starting Elevation: 
near-treeline
Hide Size
Destructive Size: 
D1 Relatively harmless to people.
Avalanche Location: