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snow science

Brain Post: The Hidden Dangers of an Early Season Snowpack

Have you ever wondered why avalanche forecasters get so worked up about early season snow? Those first few storms of the season might seem harmless enough, maybe just enough snow to cover the grass and get us dreaming about powder days ahead. But here’s the thing: these early season storms can set up the snowpack for instability that persists throughout […]

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Clay Malott | November 7, 2024
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Can AI Reliably Forecast Powder Days?

Artificial Intelligence skiing

When is the next pow day going to be? That is a question that all of us would love to be able to answer. For ski areas, knowing when the snow will come is extremely important for almost every aspect of mountain operations, including when to groom runs and plow roads, when to do avalanche control work, and how many […]

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Zach Armstrong | November 23, 2023
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The Importance of Tracking Early Season Weak Layers in the Snowpack… How Long do They Persist?

This video and text was originally published on the Utah Avalanche Center website This is a presentation from Utah Avalanche Center director Mark Staples on tracking early season snow and how it may form persistent weak layers as well as how those layers heal. It’s October and it’s snowing in the mountains. Early season snow is exciting, but it can […]

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AvyBrains | October 27, 2021
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Study Finds Avalanche Victims With Long Burial Times (≥60 Min) Have Only 19% Chance of Survival

Colorado Avalanche

Surviving an avalanche burial is completely correlated with burial time. As a rule of thumb, the longer someone’s been buried the lower the chance of survival. A recent study has been published where researchers looked at all completely buried avalanche victims with a burial duration of ≥60 min between 1997 and 2018 in Switzerland, and drew conclusions from the retrospective data.  […]

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AvyBrains | June 11, 2021
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What is Graupel? And Why Do Skiers Love It?

Graupel: those soft, little hail-looking snowballs that fall from the sky during storms and make the ski conditions awesome. They’re not quite snowflakes and not quite hail pellets—so what are they? The World Atlas defines graupel as such:  “Graupel, also referred to as snow pellets or soft hail, is a form of precipitation which forms when super-cooled droplets of water […]

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WeatherBrains | May 24, 2021
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Backcountry Safety Basics Part 1: Snow Science

[arve url="https://youtu.be/Eqkz1KQDFNM"]
Clay Malott | February 8, 2021
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Brain Post: Why is Snow White?

Snow is made of water, which appears totally clear and not as any specific color—so why is snow white? The answer to this mysterious question is simpler than you may think and has to do with the science of how we percieve it. Related: The Art & Science of Snowflakes Science tells us that snow is frozen water, or a […]

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Martin Kuprianowicz | January 28, 2021
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74 Human-Triggered Avalanches in Colorado in 6 Days | Extremely Weak Snowpack For Much of State Right Now

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Friends of CAIC (@friendsofcaic) With much of the inter-mountain West being dry in regards to precipitation for the first part of this winter, snow instabilities have formed. The snowpack is weak in a lot of places—and dangerous. Especially in Colorado. Related: The SnowBrains Podcast – Episode #4 – What’s […]

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AvyBrains | December 16, 2020
1 Comment

Winter Before Halloween in Montana Above 5500-6000 Feet! | Layered snowpack, Windslabs, & 1 Reported Avalanche

Conditions report from Oct. 21, 2020 It’s already winter in the high elevation areas of Montana — beware! “Winter before Halloween? Yes, above 5500-6000 feet. Layered snowpack, thin windslabs, at least 1 reported slide. More snow and wind coming. Carry beacons, shovels, and probes if you’re riding or climbing above snowline. Check for conditions updates at flatheadavalanche.org” — Friends of […]

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Avatar photo SnowBrains | October 22, 2020
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VIDEO: Sierra Avalanche Center Shows Current Instability in the Snowpack, Reveals Persistent Weak Layer

  This observation was taken on Hidden Peak yesterday, March 17, 2020. Listen for persistent weak layer failure. Full Observation can be found on the Sierra Avalanche Center website.

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AvyBrains | March 18, 2020
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The Utah Avalanche Center Explains Why North-Facing Slopes Keep Better Snow

Ever wonder how the snow on high elevation north facing slopes remains dry powder during such warm weather? The Utah Avalanche Center explained the science behind this in an Instagram post yesterday, Feb. 23: (1) The sun either doesn’t hit the snow it or the sun hits the snow at such a shallow angle that most of the solar radiation is […]

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Avatar photo SnowBrains | February 24, 2020
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