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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 20th, 2024–Mar 21st, 2024

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Retallack, Whatshan.

Rain & new snow do not improve challenging conditions.

Choose mellow terrain until we find a thick, supportive surface crust.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Large wet avalanches, some failing at the ground, were reported throughout the region on Tuesday.

A widespread natural avalanche cycle up to size 3 continued on Monday, with persistent slab avalanches being the most common. A few remote-triggered avalanches were also reported.

Large natural avalanche activity is expected to continue until the temperature drops enough for a hard surface crust to start forming.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find 5 to 15 cm of snow overlying a melt-freeze crust at higher elevations. Up to 15 mm of rain will fall on already moist snow surfaces up to 1500 m.

Two layers of surface hoar and sun crust can be found in the top meter of the snowpack.

A hard widespread crust formed in early February is buried about 80 to 150 cm deep. This crust has a layer of facets above it, producing the previous large, natural avalanche cycle.

The snowpack below this crust is generally not concerning except in shallow alpine terrain.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with up to 10 mm falling as snow above 1500 m, greatest amounts north of Revelstoke. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature around 0 °C. Freezing level drops to 1700 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with up to 5 mm, falling as snow above 1000 m. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature around -1 °C. Freezing level drops to 1500 m.

Friday

Few clouds. 10 km/h west ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature around -2 °C.

Spring diurnal cycle begins, freezing levels dropping to surface overnight and rising to about 1500 m during the day.

Saturday

Cloudy. 10 km/h northeast ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature around -2 °C. Spring diurnal continues.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
  • Avoid areas with overhead hazard, especially solar aspects.
  • When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.