Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Bull, Elkford East, Elkford West, Flathead, Lizard, Lizard-Flathead, South Rockies.
Watch for wind slabs that have developed in sheltered terrain due to the recent strong winds.
Avoid shallow, rocky snowpack areas where triggering the deep persistent weak layer is still possible.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
On Monday, a skier-triggered, size 1 wind slab was reported.
On Sunday, a few natural, size 1 to 1.5, wind slab avalanches were reported at higher elevations.
On Saturday several thin wind slabs, up to size 1.5, were reported to be reactive to natural and human triggers.
Please continue to share any observations or photos on the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
Winds continue to redistribute recent snow into wind slabs in open terrain features at treeline and alpine elevations. These wind slabs are developing over variable surfaces of wind-pressed snow, spotty surface hoar, and soft, faceted snow.
The mid-pack is well consolidated in the Lizard Range with a robust melt-freeze crust formed around Christmas down 50 to 90 cm deep. In the north of this region, the snowpack is gaining strength but is much shallower with a more faceted snowpack.
The lower snowpack contains weak and faceted grains from November. The total snowpack depth ranges between 120 and 250 cm.
Weather Summary
Tuesday Night
Mainly cloudy, trace accumulations, 30 to 40 km/h westerly winds, treeline temperatures -12 ºC
Wednesday
Mainly cloudy, trace accumulations, 30 to 40 km/h westerly winds, treeline temperatures -11 ºC
ThursdayPartly cloudy, no new snow, 5 to 10 km/h southwest winds, treeline temperatures -10 ºC
FridayMostly clear skies with increasing overnight, 1 to 3 cm of new snow, 5 to 10 km/h southwest winds, treeline temperatures -10 ºC
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Approach lee and cross-loaded slopes with caution.
- Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Variable moderate winds continue to redistribute recent snow into wind slabs at the treeline and above.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5
Deep Persistent Slabs
Faceted grains make up the lower snowpack and are gaining strength very slowly. Although deep persistent slab avalanches have not been reported in the region for some time there is concern that this layer remains an active avalanche problem in the northern, data-sparse parts of the region. In these areas, this layer could still be triggered with a heavy load, like a cornice fall, machine trigger, or in areas with a thinner snowpack.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 2.5 - 3.5