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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 24th, 2020–Dec 25th, 2020

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Glacier.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/links/goto_e.asp?destination=

The storm has passed but the persistent weak layers linger within human triggering range. Avalanches triggered on these layers may be large and of high consequence.

Weather Forecast

Sunny with cloudy periods and no precipitation.

Alpine temperatures reaching a high of -5 C accompanied by moderate SW winds.

Freezing level around 900 metres.

Look for an alpine temperature inversion.

Cloudy with sunny periods Christmas day along with a trace of precip and warming temperatures.

Snowpack Summary

120cm snow in the past week along with warm temps and strong S-SW winds culminating in slab formation at all elevation bands. Dec 13 surface hoar/facets are down 120cm+ and the Dec 7 crust/surface hoar layer is down 140cm+. The Nov 5 crust lingers near the base of the snowpack and several avalanches over the storm period stepped down to it.

Avalanche Summary

Avalanche control just west of Glacier Park produced slides to size 4 yesterday. Monday evening artillery and RACS controlled avalanches averaged size 3. Natural avalanches to size 3.5 occurred up Connaught creek Monday night. Natural activity has decreased with the passage of the storm. Human triggering remain likely in wind effected terrain.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

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.