Avalanche forecast

South Rockies

Mar 4, 2019Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Cold dry conditions continue. Watch for signs of instability as you travel, such as whumpfing, cracking, and recent avalanches.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Recent snow has formed wind slabs that may be reactive to human triggering at upper elevations.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–2.5
    In deeper snowpack areas, a surface hoar layer buried 30-60 cm deep may still be reactive. It is most prominent between 1600 and 1900 m.

Weather Forecast

SUNDAY NIGHT: Clear, light northeast wind, alpine temperatures drop to -22 C.MONDAY: Sunny, light northeast wind, alpine high temperatures near -13 C.TUESDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods, light northeast wind, alpine high temperatures near -10 C.WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries, light southeast wind with moderate gusts, alpine high temperatures near -10 C.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported on Sunday. On Saturday and Friday, a few small wind slab avalanches (size 1) were triggered by skiers and some small natural wind slabs were observed.

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Snowpack Summary

10-20 cm of recent snow with moderate winds has likely formed wind slabs in exposed terrain. Older wind slabs will be buried under the new snow and may be difficult to detect. Cold temperatures have been transforming most of the snowpack into soft faceted snow. In thicker snowpack areas, you may find a slab sitting above a weak layer of facets and surface hoar that was buried in mid-January and is now 30-60 cm deep. This layer is most prominent in the Elk Valley between 1600 m and 1900 m. Snowpack tests and avalanche reports on this layer suggest that human triggering is still a lingering concern.

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