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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 18th, 2023–Dec 19th, 2023

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

Regions

East Kakwa, Pine Pass, Tumbler.

Exercise caution in steep terrain, especially when the upper snowpack feels stiff or slabby, as it could be resting on a fragile layer of surface hoar.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been reported. There are very few field observations coming from this forecast area. Remember that a lack of avalanche reports does not necessarily mean a lack of avalanche activity.

If you go out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Snowpack Summary

Recent winds over the weekend have scoured the surface down to old hard, crusts in south and west-facing terrain at higher elevations. Deeper pockets of wind-deposited snow are present on north and east-facing terrain.

A concerning layer of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals can be found approximately 30-50 cm down from the surface.

The mid snowpack likely contains multiple frozen crusts, while the lower snowpack is generally faceted.

Average snowpack depths at treeline range from 50 to 100 cm.

Weather Summary

The higher amounts of snowfall are expected in the west of the region, while the lower amounts are expected as you travel east within the region.

Monday Night

Cloudy with 2 to 8 cm of snow, southeast alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -7 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, south alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 50 to 70 km/h, treeline temperature 0 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 10 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 50 to 70 km/h, treeline temperature 0 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.
  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.

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.