Avalanche forecast

Northwest Inland

Jan 13 – 14, 2015Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Careful attention to terrain choices are the "words to live by" right now. Buried surface hoar and facets could be triggered with a small avalanche.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3
    Incoming precipitation will rebuild the wind slab problem.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–6
    This mid layer crust facet combination will take a long time to go away.  Rapid warming, rapid loading, or an avalanche event could bring this dragon back to life.

Confidence

Fair - Due to the number and quality of field observations

Weather Forecast

Pacific moisture moving through the area for the next few days should bring us 5 to 10 cm of new snow by the end of Tuesday, with a break on Wednesday, then another 5 to 10 cm on Thursday and Friday. Winds from the S-SW, moderate to strong at upper elevations throughout the forecast period.  Freezing levels should remain around 500 m, but may spike to 1800m on Wednesday, then return to  around 500 m on Friday.

Avalanche Summary

No reports of avalanche activity yesterday.

Snowpack Summary

SW winds are creating wind slabs on lee aspects in exposed terrain, generally depositing snow on N and NE aspects. Below the recent storm snow is a rain crust at lower elevations and a temperature crust that formed on the surface above treeline from the recent temperature inversion. In the mid-pack a surface hoar layer has been reported, although it appears to be spotty in distribution. Near the base of the snowpack is a November crust-facet combination that will hopefully soon no longer be a problem.

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