Juneau, Alaska (KINY) – Avalanche danger remains HIGH on Wednesday. Over the last 36 hours, Juneau had a widespread avalanche cycle. There have been natural avalanches occurring in almost all aspects of the region and at multiple elevations in the region.
This latest storm deposited over 47″ of new snow at Eaglecrest since last Friday night. Even after settlement, this left Juneau with a 36″ storm slab during warming creating an upside-down snowpack. This upside-down snowpack came to rest on a shallow wind slab overlaying several crusts and persistent faceted weak layers previously in place.
Although the Behrends Avenue avalanche path had a small slide, over 80% of the starting zone remains in hangfire.
With outflow winds increasing Wednesday this area remains a concern. Although potentially starting to stabilize over time, Wednesday’s outflow winds will not only increase the likelihood of avalanches here but will also potentially increase the avalanche’s size.
“When you have as many natural avalanches as we have seen over the last 3 days you know that instabilities are great and will linger for some time. Although the active loading from the storm has been reduced even yesterday’s lighter winds were enough to trigger a multitude of avalanches,” Tom Mattice, Emergency Programs Manager for CBJ, wrote in the avalanche warning. “You can tell the trap has been set… any slopes that have not slid may still be susceptible to additional avalanches and even slopes that slid may now be reloading with all the light dry snow up high with increasing winds today.”
These slides are quite large and border with the size needed to come very near to structures.
Although unlikely avalanches may reach the size to affect structures, avalanche areas should continue to be avoided on Wednesday.
Please reduce your risk by limiting time spent in avalanche zones.
Please again avoid The Flume and Perseverance Trails.
For a reminder of the urban avalanche paths please go to: https://juneau.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/DowntownJuneauMapBIGWEB.jpg
Keep up to date on the urban avalanche advisory page
The National Weather Service Forecasts-
HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON WEDNESDAY TO MIDNIGHT AKST…
* WHAT…East winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 60 mph expected.
* WHERE…Downtown Juneau and Douglas.
* WHEN…From noon Wednesday to midnight AKST tonight.
Today- Increasing clouds. Highs around 30. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Near downtown Juneau and Douglas, east winds 10 to 15 mph increasing to northeast 30 to 35 mph with gusts to 60 mph. Areas of blowing snow.
Wednesday night- Decreasing clouds. Lows around 18. East winds are 10 to 20 mph, except east 20 to 30 mph near downtown Juneau and Douglas with gusts to 60 mph. Areas of blowing snow.
Thursday- Mostly clear. Areas of blowing snow in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 20s. East winds are 10 to 15 mph, except east 20 to 30 mph near downtown Juneau and Douglas.
