Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Mar 5th, 2019 5:18PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

shorton, Avalanche Canada

South Rockies.

Watch for wind slabs as you travel into steep or open terrain.

Summary

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

TUESDAY NIGHT: Clear with cloudy periods, light northeast wind, alpine temperatures drop to -15 C.WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace accumulations, 20-40 km/h southeast wind, alpine high temperatures near -12 C.THURSDAY: Scattered flurries easing throughout the day with 5-10 cm of snow, 50-70 km/h southwest wind, alpine high temperatures near -6 C.FRIDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks and isolated flurries, 40-60 km/h southwest wind, alpine high temperatures near -10 C.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported on Tuesday. One small (size 1) slab and a few loose dry avalanches were triggered in steep terrain on Monday. A few size 1 wind slab avalanches were triggered by skiers over the weekend.

Snowpack Summary

Cold temperatures have been transforming most of the snowpack into soft faceted snow, with the exception alpine terrain where hard wind slabs can be found. In deep snowpack areas, you may find a slab sitting above a layer of facets and surface hoar that was buried in mid-January and is now 30-60 cm deep. The layer is most prominent in the Elk Valley between 1600 m and 1900 m, but no recent avalanche activity has been reported on this layer.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Hard wind slabs remain possible to trigger. If triggered, they could scour down into the soft faceted snow beneath them.

Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.Be aware of the potential for wide propagations due to the presence of hard windslabs.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Mar 6th, 2019 2:00PM