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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 22nd, 2022–Dec 23rd, 2022

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

Regions

Glacier.

A warm, moist storm will start to build storm slabs on top of a weak cold surface.

Sluffing in steep terrain will be the main concern on Friday.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Reports of settlements and whumphing continue to be reported in previously untracked terrain.

Isolated natural sluffs and small avalanches up to size 2 have been observed along the highway corridor in the past few days.

Snowpack Summary

An incoming storm will start covering a facetted surface and some wind slabs in exposed terrain in the alpine.

The Dec 16 interface is down ~10cm, it consists of surface hoar (up to 10mm at tree line and below) and a crust on solar aspects.

The Dec 5 and Nov 17 surface hoar layers are down ~40cm and ~70cm respectively and still producing easy to moderate snowpack tests in some locations.

Atypical early season hazards are present throughout the park. The snowpack is thin (~110cm at 2000m) and generally facetted.

Weather Summary

A MOIST PACIFIC FRONT IS APPROACHING!

Snow starts Friday as temperatures moderate, wind will be southerly, with moderate snowfall accumulations through the weekend.

Fri: Flurries, 9 cm, Alp High: -10*C, Ridge wind: S-15 km/h

Sat: Snow, 23 cm, Alp High: -5*C, Ridge wind: SW-35 km/h, Freezing level: 1100 m

Sun: Periods of snow, 18 cm, Alp High -2*C, Ridge wind: SW-20, gusting to 45 km/h, Fz lvl: 1600 m

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
  • Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
  • Minimize exposure during periods of heavy loading from new snow and wind.

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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.