Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain for the entire period

On Wednesday the region may have seen the last drips and drabs of precipitation for a while. A strong ridge building from the western part of the province will bring dryer conditions for the forecast period. On Thursday ridgetop winds will be light from the NW; freezing levels may rise to 1200m and alpine temperatures steady near -5. Friday and Saturday mainly sunny as the ridge of high pressure holds true with freezing levels potentially reaching 1800-2000m.

No new natural avalanches reported today. Our CAC field team did spend the day out, and investigated some natural slab avalanches that occurred on the 29/30th from Michel Ridge. All three slides were size 3 slab avalanches. One of the avalanches occurred on a East aspect, @ 1965m. The debris was 175m long x 20m wide, with an average depth of 2m. The avalanche consisted of a dense hard slab running on weaker facets below.

Strong SW winds created stiff, yet reactive wind slabs on lee slopes. Cross-loading, and wind slabs are also found lower on the slopes and in unsuspecting terrain due to the strong push of the winds. Below 1700m a 4cm thick crust exists, I suspect it's from the rising freezing levels, and precipitation last Sunday. This crust is said to be supportive. Below this reports indicate the mid-pack to be fairly well settled. Deeper in the snowpack sits the mid-December surface hoar layer. This layer remains a concern for deeper releases. Basal facets and depth hoar also play a major role in this region. The average snowpack depth at treeline is 150cms.