Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 24th, 2024–Mar 25th, 2024

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

Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South.

40 to 50 cm of recent snow may settle into reactive storm slabs, especially in wind affected terrain.

Use small low consequence slopes to test the bond of the recent snow.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Numerous naturally triggered size 1 dry loose avalanches and several rider triggered size 1 storm slabs were reported on all aspects at treeline and above on Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

40 to 50 cm of recent snow may settle into reactive storm slabs, especially in wind affected terrain. This snow overlies predominantly crusty surfaces, except for northerly aspects at upper elevations.

A widespread, hard crust with facets above is buried 80 to 120 cm down in the South Rockies and up to 200 cm in the Lizard range. Steep or convex terrain features with a shallow or thin to thick snowpack at treeline and above are the most likely places to trigger this layer. However, when a thick surface crust is present, human triggering this layer is unlikely.

Weather Summary

Sunday night

Clear skies. 20 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C. Freezing level valley bottom.

Monday

Mix of sun and cloud. 20 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Tuesday

Mix of sun and cloud. 20 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Check out the Mountain Weather Forecast for additional weather information.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for changing conditions today, storm slabs may become increasingly reactive.
  • Use small low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • If triggered loose wet avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
  • Cornice failure may trigger large avalanches.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.

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.