Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Mar 11th, 2020 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs, Cornices and Deep Persistent Slabs.
JMackenzie,
Avalanche Canada
Wind slabs are the main concern, as human triggering of these slabs is very likely.
Summary
Confidence
Weather Forecast
Thursday will start off cold and mostly sunny before switching to a snowy afternoon and temps up to -12 at ridgetop. 3 to 5cm of snow is expected in the afternoon with another 5cm on Friday. Winds will be light to moderate from the NW on Thursday.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new observed today , but we did note further evidence of the recent avalanche cycle up to size 3.0 on all aspects and at all elevations.
Snowpack Summary
Another 5 to 10cm of new snow in the past 24 hours. Storm snow from the last 7 days now sits at between 60 and 80cm. The extreme wind event out of the SW on Tuesday has created yet another generation of wind slabs at treeline and above. Forecasters observed shooting cracks and very poor skiing at treeline due to a 15cm thick wind slab. Expect areas of surface sun crust on steep solar aspects, particularly at lower elevations.
Terrain and Travel
- Avoid freshly wind loaded terrain features.
- Avoid lee and cross-loaded terrain.
- Extra caution is needed around cornices under the current conditions.
- Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of a deep persistent slab.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Yet another generation of wind slabs has been recently formed. These are everywhere in the Alpine and extend down into Treeline.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Cornices
Cornices continue to grow. Any cornice failure could be enough to trigger a significant slide on the underlying slopes.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
Still concern for the weak layer deep in the snowpack. Triggering is more concerning in shallow snowpack areas.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Mar 12th, 2020 4:00PM
