Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Apr 21st, 2023 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Loose Dry, Persistent Slabs and Deep Persistent Slabs.
Dvonk,
Avalanche Canada
Decent skiing continues to be found on polar aspects where the sun hasn't touch it. Continue to start early and finish early as good spring habits.
Summary
Confidence
Avalanche Summary
No field teams today.
No avalanches reported.
Snowpack Summary
15-20 cm of recent snow overlies a variety of surfaces such as wind slabs and melt/freeze crusts. Sheltered areas and polar aspects will provide the best skiing with little wind effect. Be aware of sluffing on solar aspects if the sun comes out. Forecasters continue to track persistent weaknesses down anywhere from 40 to 100cm on polar aspects. These weaknesses are highly variable in nature and travelers should take the time to dig down and evaluate the snowpack frequently. Also, the lingering deep persistent slab problem is still alive and well.
If the sun comes out stability will deteriorate quickly so pay attention to the incoming radiation on aspects you are travelling on or under. Early starts and finishes are a great way to deal with some of these issues.
Weather Summary
Continued cloudy conditions with trace amounts of snow in the forecast for the weekend.
Winds are lighter, 20km out of the SW swapping to west on Saturday.
Day time highs of -4 and freezing levels around 2100m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid steep slopes when air temperatures are warm, or solar radiation is strong.
- In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Problems
Loose Dry
This will be a problem on steep alpine terrain or where this storm snow sits on top of a developed melt freeze crusts.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
The persistent layer is down roughly 100cm. May wake up again with increasing precipitation. North aspects is where this layer has been most active.
Aspects: North, North East, East, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
Shallow snowpack areas are an area of special concern, especially with intense solar radiation and/or daytime heating.
Great evidence of this problem avalanching is easy to find along the spray road right now.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Apr 22nd, 2023 4:00PM
