Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Purcells.
Confidence
Good - -1
Weather Forecast
Thursday: One more day of frigid cold to endure - although some minor warming may creep into the far south. Light winds. No precipitation.Friday: Light snow starting late in the day. Moderate south-westerly winds and temperatures rising slightly. Saturday: Continued light to moderate snowfall. South-westerly winds.
Avalanche Summary
A natural avalanche cycle to size 2.5 was reported on alpine slopes in the northern Purcells, failing in response to an overnight wind event. Skiers have been triggering soft slabs in steep terrain in the size 1-1 .5 range over the past few days, however many observers say that the snow remains mostly cohesionless due to the intense cold.
Snowpack Summary
20-45 cm of low density storm snow has been redistributed by mainly south-westerly winds. Cold temperatures have limited the widespread development of storm slabs, but wind slabs and cornices of variable reactivity have built up. Below the storm snow are various surfaces including facets, surface hoar in sheltered areas, wind crust, soft slabs and hard slabs. The mid-December surface hoar/facet persistent weakness, now down around 50cm on the eastern side of the range and as deep as 160cm on the western side, is still causing operators concern, especially in shallow snowpack areas. The consequences of a failure on this layer would be large. Facets and depth hoar exist at the base of the snowpack.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 3
Persistent Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 4 - 7
Deep Persistent Slabs
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 3 - 6