Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Akamina, Bull, Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South, Elkford East, Elkford West, Flathead, Lizard, Lizard-Flathead, South Rockies.
⚠️Dangerous avalanche conditions⚠️
Stick to low-angle terrain and be mindful of overhead hazard. Human-triggered and remote-triggered avalanches remain a serious concern.
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.
Avalanche Problems
Persistent Slabs
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.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 2 - 3
Storm Slabs
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.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2