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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 24th, 2021–Jan 25th, 2021

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kootenay Boundary.

Maintaining good travel habits will help you to manage the isolated wind slabs and pockets of preserved surface hoar that linger in the region.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Sunday night: Cloudy with flurries bringing less than 5 cm of new snow. Light south winds

Monday: Cloudy with continuing isolated flurries and a further trace of new snow. Light south or southeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -13.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Light south winds. Alpine high temperatures around -13.

Wednesday: Cloudy with flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow, continuing but easing overnight. Light to moderate southeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -11.

Avalanche Summary

A single, sluggish skier-triggered size 1 (small) hard wind slab was reported from the Five Mile Provincial Park area on Saturday. This occurred on a northeast aspect at 2000 metres and is a good reminder of the hazards that still need to be managed during times of relatively good stability. Otherwise, there have been no new reports of avalanches in the last couple of days. 

Earlier last week, a few small skier controlled wind slabs at wind loaded ridgecrests likely failed on shallow surface hoar and ran on a near surface crust.

Snowpack Summary

One or more crusts may exist in the upper snowpack depending on elevation and area within the region. The uppermost crust extends up to around 2000 m, ie. ridgetop in areas such as Rossland. In higher terrain, 10-15 cm of wind affected snow may sit over crust and/or large surface hoar crystals.

A layer of surface hoar found 20-50 cm below the surface in isolated areas in the north and east of the region appears to be healing. It may still produce moderate to hard planar snowpack test results on rounding crystals, but has not had any associated avalanche activity in over a week.

A couple of crusts surrounded by weak faceted grains are buried deep within the snowpack. The upper layer is 80 to 130 cm deep and the lower is near the ground. These do not present a problem under the current conditions.

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.

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.