Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 12th, 2024 1:45PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Deep Persistent Slabs.
mkoppang,
Avalanche Canada
Cold temps will continue over the weekend. Be thinking about the "what ifs" is you go out such as a binding breaking, a tweaked knee or any injury. Minor situations can become major emergencies in this weather.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were observed on Friday from the warmth of the truck.
Snowpack Summary
Last weeks snow is slowly settling under the influence of the cold temperatures. Winds have been light to moderate and variable in direction so watch for windslabs in alpine areas on all aspects along ridgelines and in open terrain. These same windslabs will also be present at treeline but not as common as in the open alpine areas. A spotty surface hoar layer is down 30-50cm at treeline that is also worth investigating. Deeper in the snowpack is the Dec 5th melt freeze crust that will be inportant as a layer to watch and the weak basal facets under this layer. Thin snowpack areas are places where triggering this layer is possible.
Weather Summary
Cold weather continues and hopefully we have hit the bottom! It was -46 at Mud lake Friday am and all stations were reading below -40C. That was a first! Look for warm temps start to move in Monday afternoon. Although, -20 would feel warm after today!
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Recent wind has varied in direction so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
- Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
- In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Windslabs are forming along ridgelines in the recent storm snow.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
This problem will be with us all season. At higher elevations there is more concern that these deep persistent weak layers could be human triggerable.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 14th, 2024 4:00PM
