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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 13th, 2024–Feb 14th, 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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

South Rockies, Akamina, Bull, Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South, Elkford East, Elkford West.

Watch for loose avalanches as the sun hits new snow for the first time.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported at the time of publishing on Tuesday.

A few large (size 2) wind slab avalanches were triggered with explosives in the south on Monday.

A rider accidentally triggered a small wind slab avalanche below treeline near Window Mountain on Sunday. The wind slab had formed further downslope than normal.

Snowpack Summary

10 to 20 cm of light, dry snow fell near the Continental Divide on Tuesday with less as you go west.

Previous moderate to strong southwest wind developed wind slabs at all elevations. In sheltered spots, expect 30 to 50 cm over the thick rain crust from early February.

Below this crust, the shallow faceted snowpack is generally well consolidated. There are two crust layers, one in the midpack and another near the base of the snowpack, that have been unreactive.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy, clearing. 15 to 35 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Wednesday

Clear skies. 15 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Thursday

A mix of sun and cloud. 15 to 30 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Friday

Clear skies. 20 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
  • Loose avalanches may start small but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

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.