Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Mar 12th, 2020 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs.
cgarritty,
Avalanche Canada
Surface crust may prevent wind redistribution at lower elevations, but a switch to increasing northeast winds means to watch for touchy new slabs forming outside of the usual areas on Friday.
Summary
Confidence
Weather Forecast
Thursday night: Becoming cloudy. Light northwest winds shifting northeast.
Friday: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate northeast winds increasing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -8.
Saturday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light to moderate northeast winds easing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -10.
Sunday: Sunny. Light northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5.
Avalanche Summary
Reports of avalanche activity from Tuesday's storm remain limited, however images in two MIN reports from Wednesday gives a good indication of recent human triggering potential in the alpine around Sky Pilot.
Looking forward, expect the new snow that accumulated over variable surfaces on Tuesday to remain potentially reactive to human triggering over the short term. The most suspect areas will be steeper slopes at higher elevations that saw more dramatic wind loading during and immediately after the storm.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 30 cm of new snow from Tuesday's storm can be found in alpine and upper treeline areas of the region, with new snow amounts tapering dramatically with elevation. The new snow buried a mix of surface hoar and melt-freeze crust that varies with elevation and aspect. The bond at this interface is expected to be gradually improving.
The remainder of the snowpack is well-settled. The snowpack depth varies from around 300 to 400 cm around 1200 to 1400 m and tapering rapidly with elevation, with no snow below 700 m.
Terrain and Travel
- Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Higher elevations in the region hold up to 30 cm of recent snow that may remain reactive to human triggering over the short term. Recent slabs won't have much time to stabilize before Friday's switch to northeast winds begins to reverse-load loose snow into new slabs over previously scoured surfaces.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Mar 13th, 2020 5:00PM
