Avalanche Forecast

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The next weather system is expected to arrive on Thursday morning. 10-20mm of precipitation is forecast for Thursday during the day and another 10-20mm is forecast for Thursday overnight. Another 5-10mm of precipitation is currently forecast for Friday before things dry out Friday afternoon or evening. Alpine winds are expected to be strong from the southwest until they ease off on Friday evening. Afternoon freezing levels are expected to be around 1500m for Thursday and Friday. The next weather system is currently forecast to arrive on Saturday morning and models are currently showing another 10-20mm by Sunday morning.

No recent avalanche observations have been reported in the region but there is enough snow for avalanches at treeline and in the alpine.  Wind slabs have the potential to form on Thursday during the storm and if we get enough snow, a more widespread storm slab problem could develop on Friday. If you are out in the mountains, please send us your observations.

Early season snowpack observations are still very limited in the region but the threshold for avalanches has been exceeded at treeline and in the alpine. Snowpack depth is reported to be 110-150cm at treeline. A thick crust from mid-November is down around 60cm and snowpack tests suggest the layer is well bonded to the adjacent snow. Below this crust layer the snowpack is reported to be moist to the ground at treeline elevation. The snowpack tapers off drastically below treeline and the threshold for avalanches is likely around 1700m elevation.