Turnagain Pass Avalanche Forecast RSS

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ARCHIVED FORECAST - All forecasts expire after 24 hours from the posting date/time.
Issued
Tue, March 19th, 2013 - 7:00AM
Expires
Wed, March 20th, 2013 - 7:00AM
Forecaster
Wendy Wagner
Avalanche risk The Bottom Line

We continue to have a LOW avalanche danger today in the Eastern Turnagain Arm mountains. Natural and human triggered avalanches are unlikely. There are however a few things to keep in mind on LOW danger springtime days like today: Cornice falls, wet loose sluffs on warming southerly aspects and dry sluffs on steep shady aspects. There is also the potential for pockets of shallow wind slabs to be lurking in isolated areas.

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Tue, March 19th, 2013
Alpine
Above 2,500'
Low (1)
Avalanche risk
Treeline
1,000'-2,500'
Low (1)
Avalanche risk
Below Treeline
Below 1,000'
Low (1)
Avalanche risk
Alpine
Above 2,500'
Avalanche risk
Low (1)
Treeline
1,000'-2,500'
Avalanche risk
Low (1)
Below Treeline
Below 1,000'
Avalanche risk
Low (1)
Danger Scale:
No Rating (0)
Low (1)
Moderate (2)
Considerable (3)
High (4)
Extreme (5)
Avalanche Problem 1
  • Normal Caution
    Normal Caution
Normal Caution
Normal Caution means triggering an avalanche is unlikely but not impossible.
More info at Avalanche.org

It was a quiet day in backcountry yesterday. Spring break is over and it seems many folks are tuckered out from significant time spent enjoying the past several days of good snow and sunny skies. The plethora of tracks that litter the landscape tell this tale and we are becoming in need of a refresher – possibly this weekend. The clear and cold weather is recycling our powder however and helping out our riding and skiing conditions. 

We just received two observations from Saturday worth mentioning. One is a skier triggered slab. This was fairly small but it’s suspect that buried surface hoar was the culprit. The other was a large natural avalanche in the Portage area. This natural seems to be an outlier event in very complex and steep terrain. Thank you to all who have submitted observations this year. Keep them coming. They are invaluable to us!

As Fitz mentioned yesterday, LOW danger doesn’t mean NO danger and below are good things to keep in mind if getting out in the backcountry today:

Loose snow:
Wet loose avalanches will be possible on southerly aspects as the surfaces warms through the day. These can become more worrisome in steep sustained terrain where a small point release can entrain large enough amounts of heavy snow to push a person around. Additionally, dry snow sluffing on steep (40+ degrees) northerly shaded aspects can be expected. These dry sluffs continue to be low volume and manageable.

Cornice fall:
Despite the abundance of large and overhanging cornices in the region, we have not heard of or seen any recent failures in the past several days. However, the unpredictable and high consequence nature of these keeps them blinking on the radar. They are predominantly on south and southwest aspects and time spent underneath them should as limited as possible.

Old Wind slab:
There are many old wind slabs scattered about and a few of these may be sitting on buried surface hoar or developing facets below. There is a chance a person could find and trigger one of these older slabs in isolated areas. This occurred on Saturday to a party who triggered a slab on a SW facing slope in the Turnagain area, mentioned above.

Weather
Tue, March 19th, 2013

Dazzling sunny skies and cold temperatures are over us again today. Yesterday we warmed up to the teens on the ridgetops and mid 20’s F around 1,000′. Overnight temperatures have dropped to around 10F in most areas. Over the past 24 hours winds have been light out of the NW with gusts to 15mph.

Today will be much of the same. Temperatures should warm to the teens on the ridges and 20’s at 1,000′. Winds are expected to shift to a more northerly direction but remain light with gusts to 15mph.

Looking to the future, our clear skies and associated blocking high pressure, look to remain through Thursday. On Friday models are showing a shift in the pattern that will bring clouds and a chance for precipitation over the weekend. Stay tuned.


Kevin will issue the next advisory tomorrow morning, March 20th.

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Riding Areas
Updated Sat, September 23rd, 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
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Placer River
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Skookum Drainage
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Turnagain Pass
Closed
Scheduled opening on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving per Chugach National Forest plan. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Twentymile
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Seward District
Carter Lake
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Lost Lake Trail
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Primrose Trail
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Resurrection Pass Trail
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Snug Harbor
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
South Fork Snow River Corridor
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.
Summit Lake
Closed
Scheduled opening per Chugach National Forest plan December 1. Subject to adequate snow cover.

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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.