Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 14th, 2019 3:56PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs.
dsaly,
Avalanche Canada
Sunshine and warm temperatures have settled the snowpack. Be cautious of cold, dry snow below ridges and cornices, wind slabs may be reactive to skier traffic.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Freezing levels are uncertain
Weather Forecast
MONDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with clear periods. Freezing level valley bottom, temperature inversion with cooler air in the valleys. Alpine high near +2. Light winds. TUESDAY: Sunny and warm. Freezing level near 1400 m. Alpine high near 0. Light winds. WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace accumulation. Freezing level near 1300 m. Alpine high near -3. Light to moderate south winds. THURSDAY: Cloudy with flurries, up to 10 cm. Freezing level 1000 m. Alpine high -1. Moderate south-southeast winds.More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Avalanche Summary
There were several size 1-1.5 loose wet avalanches on sunny slopes on Saturday.A wind-loaded NW slope was triggered remotely by skiers on Copper Mountain on Friday. The avalanche was reported to have failed on a layer of surface hoar. See the MIN report here.
Snowpack Summary
Warming has promoted settlement of upper snowpack layers and created surface crusts. A melt-freeze crust exists on solar aspects. Cold, dry snow may still be found on north aspects in the alpine.Wind slabs exist in alpine areas and may overlie buried surface hoar. Professionals continue to monitor a couple of persistent weak layers in the upper 50-150 cm of the snowpack. Minimal overnight re-freezes and daytime warming will keep the chance of triggering a deeper slab lingering into Tuesday. Persistent weak layers are most likely to be triggered from thin, rocky areas with a variable snowpack or with a large load, like cornice fall.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind slabs may be found near ridges and ribs. In some areas, these may overlie a touchy buried surface hoar layer.
Be alert to conditions that change with elevation.Use ridges or ribs to avoid pockets of wind loaded snow.If triggered the wind slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 15th, 2019 2:00PM
