Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 16th, 2024–Feb 17th, 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

Lizard-Flathead, Flathead, Lizard.

Slab avalanches have been reactive to human triggers. This is most likely where the snow is wind affected.

Choose smaller test slopes before committing to large features.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday three large (size 2) persistent slab avalanches were explosive triggered failing on the February melt freeze crust and were 60 cm in depth.

On Wednesday, a size 2 wind slab was skier-triggered on a SE aspect at 1950 m elevation. Many large (size 2) storm slab avalanche were triggered utilizing explosives near Fernie. All of these avalanches occurred in the alpine and on all aspects, with the exception of northwest.

Snowpack Summary

20 to 30 cm of recent snow adds on top of the early February rain crust now buried 40 to 50 cm deep, which seems well-bonded at lower elevations but isn't bonding well at higher elevations.

There are crusts and facets in the mid and lower snowpack but have not produced any recent avalanches.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy. 10-15 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Friday

Mostly clear skies, 15 to 20 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Saturday

Mostly clear skies. 20 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Monday

Clear skies, becoming cloudy in the afternoon. Light flurries 1 to 5 cm. 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °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.
  • Keep in mind that human triggering potential persists as natural avalanching tapers off.

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.