Archived

Avalanche Forecast

Feb 8th, 2014–Feb 9th, 2014

Alpine

2: Moderate

The avalanche danger rating in the alpine will be moderate

Treeline

1: Low

The avalanche danger rating at treeline will be low

Below Treeline

1: Low

The avalanche danger rating below treeline will be low

Alpine

2: Moderate

The avalanche danger rating in the alpine will be moderate

Treeline

2: Moderate

The avalanche danger rating at treeline will be moderate

Below Treeline

1: Low

The avalanche danger rating below treeline will be low

Alpine

3: Considerable

The avalanche danger rating in the alpine will be considerable

Treeline

2: Moderate

The avalanche danger rating at treeline will be moderate

Below Treeline

2: Moderate

The avalanche danger rating below treeline will be moderate

Regions: South Rockies.

A shift in the weather will increase avalanche hazard fairly rapidly once it starts to snow. If you see anything of interest, remember to let us know by submitting an observation using the CAC Mobile app.

Confidence

Good on Sunday

Weather Forecast

A change in the weather pattern should bring initially light amounts of new snow to this area from MondaySunday: Dry and mainly sunny. Winds light initially, increasing to around 40 km/h from the W. Treeline temperatures around -14C.Monday: Flurries possible. Ridgetop winds gusting to around 40 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -12CTuesday: 5-10 cm new snow expected. Ridgetop winds 60-80 km/h. Treeline temperatures around -5C.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been reported.

Snowpack Summary

Wind slabs 10-40cm thick have formed over the last few days in the alpine on various aspects. At treeline and below in sheltered areas approximately 5-15cm of light dry snow overlies a variety of old surfaces including surface hoar and/or a melt freeze crust on solar aspects. The cold temperatures continue to facet the near surface layers. This may improve the ski and sledding quality of the surface snow in the short term, however it also has the potential to create a weak layer if it is buried later in the season. The deep persistent layers of facets and depth hoar remain near the bottom of the snowpack and in shallow areas the entire snowpack consists of these weak crystals, which appear to have become less reactive with the current cold and static weather pattern. We expect that there has been little improvement in the bonding of these persistent weak layers during this cold period and they may still "wake up" (become reactive again) later in the season.

Avalanche Problems

Wind Slabs

Recent north and easterly winds have formed wind slabs in the alpine over the last few days. These are generally stubborn to trigger. A shift in the wind direction to the west may cause some easterly slopes to become reverse loaded.

Avoid freshly wind loaded features.>Avoid travelling in areas that have been reverse loaded by winds.>Use ridges or ribs to avoid pockets of wind loaded snow.>

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size: 1 - 3