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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 20th, 2023–Jan 21st, 2023

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

South Coast, North Shore, Sasquatch, Sky Pilot, Tetrahedron.

Head out the door with a storm day mindset.

New snow will likely be reactive to human triggers, step back into simple terrain free from overhead hazard as storm slabs build over the day.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday a size 2 natural storm slab was observed on a northeast facing slope.

On Wednesday there were a few size 1 avalanches triggered by explosives in the storm snow with impressively wide propagation.

Please continue to post your reports and photos to the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

Snowfall accumulations may reach 30 cm in some areas, with deeper deposits to be found in wind affected terrain features. These storm slabs build over settling snow at higher elevations, which tapers to a hard crust at lower elevations, below 700 m.

Last weeks rain saturated the snowpack and created a well settled and strong lower snowpack.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Clearing skies overnight. Freezing levels remain around 700 m. Light to moderate westerly winds. Isolated flurries are possible.

Saturday

Snowfall begins early morning delivering 20-30 cm over the day. Moderate to strong southwest winds. Freezing levels around 500 m.

Sunday

Clearing skies with light northwest winds. Freezing levels around 500 m. No snowfall expected.

Monday

Cloudy with isolated flurries. Moderate to strong northwest winds return. Freezing levels around 400 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • Be careful to keep storm day fever from luring you out into bigger terrain features.
  • As the storm slab problem gets trickier, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.