Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Mar 3rd, 2024 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Storm Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
ahanna,
Avalanche Canada
⚠️Dangerous avalanche conditions⚠️
The snowpack is primed for human triggering. Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding, and conservative decision-making is essential.
Summary
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
Numerous natural, skier, and explosive-triggered avalanches up to size 3.5 have been a daily occurrence for the past week. Several of these avalanches have failed on or scrubbed down to the crust/facet layer buried early in February.
Looking forward, it remains likely that humans could trigger high-consequence slab avalanches.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 100 cm of new snow has accumulated over the last week. Strong winds and mild temperatures during the recent storm has formed touchy slabs. These slabs may sit atop various weak layers, including surface hoar in wind-sheltered terrain, and a thin melt-freeze crust on sun-exposed slopes.
A widespread crust that formed in early February is buried around 80 to 140 cm deep. Facets have been found above this crust. This layer continues to produce many concerning avalanches across the province.
The remainder of the snowpack is generally well-settled.
Weather Summary
Sunday night
Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.
Monday
Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Tuesday
Partly cloudy with a trace of snow. 15 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.
Wednesday
Sunny. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Keep in mind that human triggering potential persists as natural avalanching tapers off.
- Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
- Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
- Persistent slabs have potential to pull back to lower angle terrain.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Substantial snow accumulation has formed thick storm slabs. These slabs have loaded various weak layers and sliding surfaces. Expect these slabs to remain touchy to human traffic.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
A weak layer of faceted grains above a melt-freeze crust buried 80 to 150 cm deep is a recipe for large, high-consequence avalanches. This snowpack setup will take some time to strengthen.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Mar 4th, 2024 4:00PM
