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Archives
ARCHIVED - Forecasts expire after 24 hours.
Issued
Wed, November 10th, 2010 - 7:00AM
Expires
Thu, November 11th, 2010 - 7:00AM
Forecaster
CNFAIC Staff
Avalanche risk The Bottom Line

Welcome to the 2010-11 Winter! Daily avalanche advisories will start this Friday, November 12 2010. We have gotten a decent amount of snow this past week (23″ in the past 2 days in Turnagain Pass), and our avalanche eyeballs are now in full gear. Be aware that conditions are highly variable at this time of the year, and that weather conditions can change the stability of the snowpack quite rapidly. We look forward to anCNFAIC Staff great year, and encourage everybody to send us any avalanche observations by clicking on the tab at the top of this page. See you on Friday! JG & KW

Tuesday Nov. 9 Update

Kevin and I toured up Sunburst and found quite the early season snowpack. What a great start to the season! Snowpack depths ranged from 3 ft. at 1000′ elevation to 5 ft. at 2400′ to 7 ft. at 3100′. All fluff top to bottom. You can still catch a ski tip on the alders down low so be careful. We found no significant weak layers in 4 seperate snowpits and a nice rightside-up snowpack. On Manitoba down by Summit Lake, a few of our observers found some buried surface hoar under about 3 feet of soft storm snow around 3000 feet elevation on a west aspect. This layer produced clean fast Q1 shears and is certainly something to watch out for on CNFAIC Staff slopes in that area. We saw quite a few fresh glide crack avalanches, especially along Turnagain Arm. Below is a photo of two fairly recent glide avalanches on the east face of Pyramid (visible from the Seward Highway).

Make sure you don’t find yourself inadvertantly below one of these things and in the line of fire. They are unpredictable at best. The next storm on the horizon looks like a warm one, so expect conditions to change by this Thursday.

LP

Wed, November 10th, 2010
Alpine
Above 2,500'
0 - No Rating
Avalanche risk
Treeline
1,000'-2,500'
0 - No Rating
Avalanche risk
Below Treeline
Below 1,000'
0 - No Rating
Avalanche risk
0 - No Rating
1 - Low
2 - Moderate
3 - Considerable
4 - High
5 - Extreme
Avalanche risk Avalanche risk Avalanche risk Avalanche risk Avalanche risk
Travel Advice Generally safe avalanche conditions. Watch for unstable snow on isolated terrain features. Heightened avalanche conditions on specific terrain features. Evaluate snow and terrain carefully; identify features of concern. Dangerous avalanche conditions. Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding, and conservative decision-making essential. Very dangerous avalanche conditions. Travel in avalanche terrain not recommended. Extraordinarily dangerous avalanche conditions. Avoid all avalanche terrain.
Likelihood of Avalanches Natural and human-triggered avalanches unlikely. Natural avalanches unlikely; human-triggered avalanches possible. Natural avalanches possible; human-triggered avalanches likely. Natural avalanches likely; human-triggered avalanches very likely. Natural and human-triggered avalanches certain.
Avalanche Size and Distribution Small avalanches in isolated areas or extreme terrain. Small avalanches in specific areas; or large avalanches in isolated areas. Small avalanches in many areas; or large avalanches in specific areas; or very large avalanches in isolated areas. Large avalanches in many areas; or very large avalanches in specific areas. Very large avalanches in many areas.
Observations
Recent Observations for Turnagain Pass
Date Region Location Observer
10/27/24 Turnagain Observation: Tincan Michael Kerst
10/21/24 Turnagain Observation: Turnagain Pass Road Observation Trevor Clayton
10/19/24 Turnagain Observation: Tincan – Below Todds Run Andy Moderow
10/18/24 Turnagain Observation: Taylor Pass Eli Neuffer
10/15/24 Turnagain Observation: Tincan Common John Sykes Forecaster
10/14/24 Turnagain Avalanche: Tincan CNFAC Staff
05/13/24 Turnagain Observation: Eddie’s, Sunburst, Seattle, Cornbiscuit, Pete’s South H Thamm
05/13/24 Turnagain Observation: Turnagain Pass non-motorized side Amy Holman
05/12/24 Turnagain Observation: Warm up Bowl Tony Naciuk
05/07/24 Turnagain Observation: Turnagain Pass Wet Slabs A S
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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.
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