Avalanche danger at Turnagain Pass will continue following weekend slides

After several snow slides occurred in the Turnagain Pass area south of Anchorage over the weekend, avalanche danger was expected to remain heading into the week, authorities said.

The alert level was described as “considerable” at higher elevations on Sunday afternoon, and is expected to slowly shift to moderate, said Wendy Wagner, director of Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center.

“While we have these clear skies through today and tomorrow, we really want to make sure people know that it’s possible that they could trigger a large avalanche,” Wagner said on Sunday. “After Monday, we’re going to get into another series of storms, and that will introduce another set of avalanche problems.”

After the most recent storm moved out of the area on Saturday, “there are a lot of folks that want to go and play in the powder because it’s really, really nice snow conditions up in the mountains right now,” Wagner said. However, the fresh snow in the area is unstable, which makes the area prone to avalanches, she added.

Girdwood and Turnagain Pass saw between a foot-and-a-half and and 3 feet of snow Wednesday through Saturday which contributed to the avalanche conditions, said Carson Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage. Hatcher Pass received significantly less snow, but the windy weather increased the avalanche risk in that area.

At Hatcher Pass on Saturday, the avalanche danger was reported as considerable at upper elevation and low at mid and lower elevation, according to a forecast by Allie Barker, avalanche specialist at Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center.

Multiple avalanches were triggered by skiers and snowmachines in Turnagain and Hatcher Pass areas over the weekend. No fatalities or injuries were reported, officials said.

The weather around Anchorage promised to be fairly quiet with clearing skies through Monday, according to Jones, but snow and light to moderate winds expected in most areas on Tuesday.