Avalanche forecast

Lizard-Flathead

Mar 6 – 7, 2024Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 3 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate

Highlights

⚠️Dangerous avalanche conditions⚠️

Stick to low-angle terrain and be mindful of overhead hazard. Human-triggered and remote-triggered avalanches remain a serious concern.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3

    A weak layer of faceted grains above a crust is 100 to 200 cm deep and is a recipe for large, high-consequence avalanches. This snowpack setup will take some time to strengthen.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–2

    Large storm slabs have formed over the past week and will take some time to strengthen. There is also concern that storm slabs could trigger larger persistent slab avalanches.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Large slab avalanches have been reported continuously over the past week in both the BC and Alberta Rockies (many size 2 and some size 3). They are being triggered naturally, as well as by humans and explosives. They are failing in both storm snow layers and on a persistent weak layer of crust and facets (100 to 200 cm deep).

Human-triggering remains a serious concern in alpine and treeline terrain.

Snowpack Summary

The upper snowpack has 30 to 50 cm of low density snow, with a potential sun crust forming on steep sun-exposed slopes. A widespread crust is buried 100 to 200 cm deep, and weak facets above this crust have been producing large avalanches throughout the Rockies. The snow below the crust is mostly strong and bonded.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Clearing skies with 1 to 2 cm of snow. 15 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -18 °C.

Wednesday

Sunny. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Thursday

Sunny. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Friday

Sunny. 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Conservative terrain selection is critical, choose only well supported, low consequence lines.
  • Avoid areas with overhead hazard.
  • Keep in mind that human triggering potential persists as natural avalanching tapers off.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.

Regions covered