Turnagain Pass Avalanche Forecast RSS

Archives
ARCHIVED FORECAST - All forecasts expire after 24 hours from the posting date/time.
Issued
Wed, February 4th, 2009 - 7:00AM
Expires
Thu, February 5th, 2009 - 7:00AM
Forecaster
CNFAIC Staff
Avalanche risk The Bottom Line

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Good Morning backcountry travelers, this is Matt Murphy with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 7am. This will serve as a general backcountry avalanche advisory issued 5 days a week Wednesday-Sunday for the Turnagain Arm area (Turnagain Pass is the core advisory area). Local variations always occur.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER ROUND UP

In the last 24 hours…

-General Weather Observations-

The weather has changed quite a bit from yesterday. Temperatures have warmed up at all weather stations this morning by 7-16 degrees. Ridgetop winds were calm yesterday, but they are starting to increase this morning.

The DOT weather station near the crest the highway at Turnagain Pass at 1000 feet

Is recording a temp of 10 degrees (7 degrees warmer than yesterday), calm winds averaging 4 mph from the NE.

The NRCS Center Ridge weather station at 1800 feet in Turnagain Pass

Has a temp of 9 degrees (12 degrees warmer than yesterday). Zero new precip. Total snowpack depth is 65″.

The Sunburst weather station at 3800 feet in Turnagain Pass

Shows a temperature of 3 degrees (15 degrees warmer than yesterday). Winds have been moderate averaging 11-20 mph out of the ESE since 11pm last night with strong gusts up to 31 mph

-Surface Analysis Maps-

There has been a massive storm out in the Bering Sea for the past couple days. Its starting to calm down a little (950-966mb), but it is still a huge storm that looks like it created a smaller storm that is gaining a little strength (990-986mb) and heading toward us.

On a side note, I saw 40 foot seas on the marine forecast yesterday for places on the Pacific side of the Aluetians.

-Radar-

The Middleton radar shows green and blue precip outside of Prince William Sound but heading our directions. The Kenai radar shows blue and a little green precip over Cook Inlet heading our direction.

AVALANCHE HAZARDS

Primary avalanche concerns

-Surface wind slabs on alpine ridges

AVALANCHE AND SNOWPACK

Bottom Line

Normal Caution is advised for Turnagain Pass, however, there might still be some isolated pockets of elevated caution on really steep convuluted terrain along ridges where you might find windslabs on top of a slipper wind buffed layer.

Discussion

The main avalanche issues recently have been some very minor, predictable and obvious wind slabs and sluffs in the surface snow. There have been no big changes with that aspect of the snowpack. If you see a pocket of snow that looks fat, then it might avalanche on you; so, either avoid it or know how to manage your terrain.

Its been lots of fun out there, but lets take some time to talk about some future concerns. Just because it is stable today does not mean it will be if we get hit with the right kind of storm. Crusts are bad. They can create bad temperature gradients near them and weak sugary facets like to form above or below crusts. I am very concerned about the bowls along Seattle Ridge because the starting zones for these bowls are below 3000 feet and they have a nasty rain crust under that light fluffy powder that has been skiing so well. We have looked at this crust in Main Bowl, Warm Up Bowl and on Repeat Offender. Temperatures under that crust in Main Bowl had one of those bad temperature gradients; so, we have a serious weak layer to pay attention to in the future.

WEATHER FORECAST

WESTERN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND-

INCLUDING…WHITTIER…SEWARD…GIRDWOOD…MOOSE PASS

500 AM AKST WED FEB 4 2009

.TODAY…SNOW LIKELY ALONG THE COAST. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW

INLAND. SNOW ACCUMULATION 1 TO 3 INCHES ALONG THE COAST. HIGHS 15 TO

25. EAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH. WIND CHILLS 5 BELOW TO 20 BELOW IN THE

MORNING.

.TONIGHT…CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. LOWS 5 TO

20 ABOVE. LIGHT WINDS. NEAR SEWARD…NORTH WIND 10 MPH IN THE

EVENING BECOMING LIGHT.

.THURSDAY…SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 3 TO 5 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE

LOWER 20S TO LOWER 30S. VARIABLE WIND 10 MPH.

.THURSDAY NIGHT…SNOW LIKELY. LOWS 10 TO 25 ABOVE…COOLEST INLAND.

LIGHT WINDS.

TEMPERATURE / PRECIPITATION

SEWARD 24 15 33 / 60 40 100

GIRDWOOD 20 14 27 / 40 40 100

This concludes today’s avalanche advisory the next advisory will be on Thursday, February 5th. Thanks and have a great day.

Thanks to our sponsors!
Wed, February 4th, 2009
Alpine
Above 2,500'
No Rating (0)
Avalanche risk
Treeline
1,000'-2,500'
No Rating (0)
Avalanche risk
Below Treeline
Below 1,000'
No Rating (0)
Avalanche risk
Alpine
Above 2,500'
Avalanche risk
No Rating (0)
Treeline
1,000'-2,500'
Avalanche risk
No Rating (0)
Below Treeline
Below 1,000'
Avalanche risk
No Rating (0)
Danger Scale:
No Rating (0)
Low (1)
Moderate (2)
Considerable (3)
High (4)
Extreme (5)
Observations
Recent Observations for Turnagain Pass
Date Region Location
05/22/23 Turnagain Avalanche: Tincan
05/12/23 Turnagain Avalanche: Tincan, Sunburst, Magnum, Cornbiscuit
05/07/23 Turnagain Observation: Tincan – Bear Tracks
05/05/23 Turnagain Observation: Seattle Ridge
05/02/23 Turnagain Observation: Cornbiscuit
05/02/23 Turnagain Observation: Seward Hwy Turnagain Pass
04/30/23 Turnagain Observation: Magnum
04/29/23 Turnagain Observation: Tincan
04/28/23 Turnagain Avalanche: Taylor Pass/Pastoral
04/28/23 Turnagain Avalanche: Tincan
Riding Areas
Updated Thu, June 01st, 2023

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: mailroom_r10_chugach@fs.fed.us

Area Status Weather & Riding Conditions
Glacier District
Johnson Pass
Closed
Closed May 15.
Placer River
Closed
Closed May 15.
Skookum Drainage
Closed
Will close to motorized use on April 1, 2023 per the National Forest Plan.
Turnagain Pass
Closed
Will close on June 1.
Twentymile
Closed
Scheduled closure May 1.
Seward District
Carter Lake
Closed
Scheduled closure May 1.
Lost Lake Trail
Closed
Scheduled closure May 1.
Primrose Trail
Closed
Scheduled closure May 1.
Resurrection Pass Trail
Closed
Closed to motorized use for the 2022/23 winter season per Forest Plan. Open next season.
Snug Harbor
Closed
Extended opening until May 15.
South Fork Snow River Corridor
Closed
Scheduled closure May 1.
Summit Lake
Closed
Scheduled closure May 1.

Subscribe to Turnagain Pass
Avalanche Forecast by Email

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.