Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Feb 20th, 2020 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.
mmueller,
Avalanche Canada
The stable weather pattern is making for very slow changes in the snow pack. Keep an eye out for crusts on the solar aspects. Other than that, sheltered and shady areas still offer some good skiing.
Summary
Confidence
Weather Forecast
Clouds will build overnight tonight as temperatures fall to -14. The high alpine winds will be steady at the 70-80km/hr range. Treeline winds will be considerably less, maybe 40km/hr at the most. In both cases, the winds will be out of the south west. As for snow? Not much, a few flurries, but nothing major.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing noted today, however field observations were limited.
Snowpack Summary
Not a lot of change lately. Surface and buried windslabs remain the most significant feature of the snowpack. They could be up to 50cm thick in open areas. Most are solid and stubborn to trigger. There are pockets of either moist snow, or sun crusts on steep solar aspects. Beneath the top 50cm, its the same ol' story. A well settled midpack sitting on a weak basal layer. Snow depths are around 150-170cm at treeline.
Terrain and Travel
- Be careful as you transition into wind affected terrain.
- Avoid shallow snowpack areas, rock outcroppings and steep convex terrain where triggering is most likely.
- Conditions may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.
- Cornices become weak with daytime heating or solar exposure.
- Avoid exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes, especially when the solar radiation is strong.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Variable depth and density of wind slabs throughout the Alpine. These are most concerning in steep, convex and unsupported terrain.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
This is a classic "low probability, high consequence" problem. While it is difficult to trigger, resulting avalanches will be very large. Use caution in shallow snowpack areas where triggering is more of a concern.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Feb 21st, 2020 4:00PM
