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

Feb 25th, 2024–Feb 26th, 2024

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 and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Regions

Glacier.

Conservative terrain choices are essential until the snowpack has had time to adjust and the new snow has settled and bonded.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

A natural avalanche cycle up to size 3.5 occurred over the weekend with avalanches running full path far into run outs. At the time of writing avalanche control planned for Sunday afternoon is expected to produce numerous large avalanches along the hwy corridor.

Regionally several human triggered avalanches have been reported failing on the Feb 3rd crust. This widespread layer promotes wide propagation and gives an excellent sliding surface for avalanches to run on.

Snowpack Summary

50cm of new snow has fallen and been redistributed by strong southerly winds. Below this, the upper snowpack consists of well settled snow, thin sun crusts on steep solar aspects, and the faceted drought layer over the Feb 3rd crust (which is widespread below 2500m).

The mid to lower snowpack is well settled, except in isolated areas of the alpine where an unusually thin & faceted snowpack exists.

Weather Summary

A break between storms will give calmer conditions. Precip and winds will ease off and temps will drop with close to valley bottom freezing levels (FZL) before the next major weather maker arrives on Wednesday.

Tonight: Flurries up to 7cm, strong W winds, low -14°C, FZL at valley bottom

Mon: Flurries, trace new snow, light W winds, low -17°C, FZL 500m

Tues: Sun & cloud, moderate SW winds, low -20°C, FZL at valley bottom

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in 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.

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.