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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 20th, 2024–Feb 21st, 2024

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

North Columbia, South Columbia, Blue River, Clearwater, Esplanade, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, Shuswap, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Retallack.

Incoming snowfall amounts are uncertain.

New snow will be falling on weak layers from the dry spell. If you're seeing 20 cm or more expect avalanches to be likely.

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

On Monday in the Monashees north of Revelstoke, one large (size 2.5) wind slab avalanche was triggered by the third rider on the slope. They were partially buried with their airbag exposed. Interestingly, no wind effect was felt underfoot in the start zone and the avalanche failed on a weak layer about 5 cm above the crust.

Additionally, several small and large (size 1-2) wind slab avalanches were accidentally triggered in the alpine by riders with no involvement.

Snowpack Summary

Weak layers of surface hoar and facets have grown during the long dry spell and are now getting buried.

Under the new snow, the alpine is generally wind-affected with a crust on slopes facing the sun. In sheltered terrain, 15 to 25 cm of snow overlies various layers including a weak layer of small surface hoar and/or another thin sun crust on solar aspects.

The widespread crust buried in early February is down 30 to 50 cm and has sugary facets on top. In most places, this crust is widespread up to 2400 m.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 15 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy. 0 to 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Friday

Partly cloudy. 25 to 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 20 cm of new snow.
  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
  • Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.

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.

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.