Timing is Everything: Advancing Avalanche Forecasting Accuracy For Partners
An operational tool to improve forecasting of wet slab avalanches, prevent loss of lives, and decrease disruption to commerce.
Wet slab avalanches are difficult to forecast because water moves through snow in complex ways. Their unpredictability and destructive potential make these avalanches deadly and costly. For example, closures on major highways like Interstate-70 in Colorado cost $2 million per hour. Under current climate trends, wet slab avalanches are expected to occur more often and earlier in the winter. We are creating a new forecasting tool that blends snowpack models with weather data to show how water moves through the snow. Until now, this kind of information has been difficult to measure in the field, especially over large areas. Our new tool will provide detailed information on the timing of water flow through a layered snowpack a 1 kilometer spatial resolution across North America. This tool will benefit avalanche forecasters, transportation agencies, and researchers, and help keep roads open, commerce moving, and people safe.
An operational tool to improve forecasting of wet slab avalanches, prevent loss of lives, and decrease disruption to commerce.
Wet slab avalanches are difficult to forecast because water moves through snow in complex ways. Their unpredictability and destructive potential make these avalanches deadly and costly. For example, closures on major highways like Interstate-70 in Colorado cost $2 million per hour. Under current climate trends, wet slab avalanches are expected to occur more often and earlier in the winter. We are creating a new forecasting tool that blends snowpack models with weather data to show how water moves through the snow. Until now, this kind of information has been difficult to measure in the field, especially over large areas. Our new tool will provide detailed information on the timing of water flow through a layered snowpack a 1 kilometer spatial resolution across North America. This tool will benefit avalanche forecasters, transportation agencies, and researchers, and help keep roads open, commerce moving, and people safe.