Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Feb 10th, 2023 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Deep Persistent Slabs.
mbender,
Avalanche Canada
Pay attention to the direction of the wind as you travel through wind exposed areas – there is still snow available to build wind slabs.
Summary
Confidence
Avalanche Summary
On Wednesday there was a report of a size 2 natural windslab avalanche on a west aspect at 1800m east of Elkford. It is outlined in this MIN report here.
On Tuesday and Wednesday in the Lizard range there were reports of several explosives controlled storm slab avalanches to size 2.5 in the alpine on northerly and easterly aspects. There also reports of a few skier triggered storm snow avalanches to size 1 and 1.5.
Please continue to share any observations or photos on the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
10-30cm of new snow from early this week has being redistributed into lee terrain in wind exposed areas at upper elevations. This overlies previous wind slabs, or a melt-freeze crust below 1900 m.
In the Lizard range specifically, the mid-pack is consolidated with a supportive 10-20cm thick frozen crust buried 80 to 100 cm.
In the Elk Valley and Flathead areas, deeply buried weak layers formed early season are slowly gaining strength but are still a concern, especially in steep rocky terrain features where the snowpack is thin.
Weather Summary
Friday Night
Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries, accumulation 1-3cm. Moderate west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -6 ºC.
Saturday
Mainly cloudy with sunny periods. Light to moderate west and southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -3 ºC. Freezing level rising to 1300m.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy. Light west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -2 °C. Freezing level around 1500m.
Monday
Mainly cloudy with flurries. Moderate southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -2 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
- Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
- Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Recent new snow from earlier in the week coupled with primarily southwest wind has built wind slabs in lee terrain features.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
A layer of faceted grains near the base of the snowpack remains on the radar for areas of this region where the snowpack is shallow and where a hard melt-freeze crust formed around Christmas doesn't exist (Elk Valley and Flathead range). Deep persistent slab avalanches have not been reported in the region for some time, however, the weak snowpack structure in these shallow areas may still be triggered with a heavy load.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Feb 11th, 2023 4:00PM
