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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 22nd, 2024–Jan 23rd, 2024

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, South Okanagan, Ymir, Crawford, Moyie, St. Mary, Kokanee, Retallack.

Continued snowfall, accompanied by moderate winds, is forming cohesive slabs over old faceted surfaces.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A mix of natural, skier-triggered, and explosive-triggered storm or wind slab avalanches have been reported over the last 4 days. Avalanches were sized 1 to 2, generally all in the upper 40 cm of snow and on various aspects and elevations.

This MIN report describes a size 1 avalanche at treeline that is fairly consistent with other reports.

Snowpack Summary

The upper snowpack continues to settle and bond with mild temperatures.

Down roughly 30 to 50 cm is a layer of faceted snow formed during the extreme cold early this month. Below this, a layer of surface hoar continues to be found in sheltered, north-facing terrain, while on south-facing slopes it may be a sun crust.

A thick crust deep in the snowpack largely protects any weak layers further down in the snowpack from being a concern.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 40 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with trace snow amounts, west alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm, southwest alpine winds 30 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -4 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with trace snow amounts, west alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.