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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 14th, 2021–Dec 15th, 2021

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

South Columbia.

Avoid wind loaded features especially in areas where snowpack depths vary and a persistent weak layer is present.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

Tuesday night: light alpine winds from the west with some light flurries. Low of -9 at 1600m.

Wednesday: Trace amounts of new snow with moderate Southwest winds. High of -7 at 1600m.

Thursday: Up to 5cm of new snow with a high of -7 at 1600m. Winds becoming strong from the Northwest.

Friday: no new snow expected. Moderate winds from the Northwest shifting to the Southwest. High of -11 at 1600m.

Avalanche Summary

Several skier triggered and natural wind slabs up to size 2 were observed in the region on Monday. These avalanches were in the upper treeline and alpine elevation and on North and East aspects.

Snowpack Summary

Up too 20cm of recent new snow has formed wind slab in isolated features in exposed treeline and alpine terrain. 

The defining feature of the snowpack is a prominent and widespread crust that reaches as high as 2400 m in the alpine and now sits 40-80 cm below the surface. In many places, overlying snow is well-bonded to the crust but in others weak faceted grains have been observed growing above it.

Average snowpack depth at treeline is 200cm.

Terrain and Travel

  • Be careful as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.

Problems

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.

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.