Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 27th, 2014 7:20AM

The alpine rating is considerable, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

pgoddard, Avalanche Canada

Northwest Inland.

Watch for wind slabs lurking in unusual places as the wind shifts direction.

Summary

Confidence

Poor - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

Lingering flurries will die out on Sunday, then it becomes cold and clear with strong outflowing N-NE winds.

Avalanche Summary

A naturally-triggered size 1.5 wind slab was observed at treeline on a north aspect in the Hankin area. It is suspected to have failed on Wednesday or Thursday. On Tuesday we received a report of a size 1.5 skier remotely triggered avalanche in the far north of the region. It released on a steep, wind loaded feature and was triggered from 5m away. The 25-45cm thick slab occurred around 1600m elevation.

Snowpack Summary

10-20 cm new snow from Friday night may have buried old wind slabs. New wind slabs are likely to form on south to west-facing slopes as winds shift into an outflow pattern. A layer of buried surface hoar down about 30-50 cm appears to be spotty in distribution, but may still be a concern in some areas. Near the base of the snowpack, the mid-November crust-facet layer has become less likely to trigger but is still in the back of our minds.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Winds are expected to shift recent snow into slabs behind terrain breaks like ridges and ribs. Older buried wind slabs may also be hidden under recent new snow.

Be cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.>Travel on ridgetops to avoid wind slabs on slopes below.>

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: All elevations.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 3

Valid until: Dec 28th, 2014 2:00PM