Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Feb 4th, 2017 4:34PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Storm Slabs.
jsmith,
Avalanche Canada
Touchy storm slabs reactive to human triggers. Conservative decision making will be CRITICAL to playing safe in the mountains this weekend.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain
Weather Forecast
Saturday night: 15-20 cm new snow/ Strong, southwest winds/ Freezing level 250m.Sunday: 5-10 cm new snow/ Moderate, southwest winds/ Freezing level 250m.Monday: 0-5 cm new snow/ Light southwest winds/ Freezing level sea level.Tuesday: Mostly cloudy with flurries/ Light, southwest winds/ Freezing level sea level.
Avalanche Summary
On Saturday, numerous skier triggered avalanches up to size to 2 were reported near Whistler. Human triggered avalanches are expected to remain very likely throughout the weekend.
Snowpack Summary
30-40 cm of new snow has buried a wide variety of old snow surfaces including stiff wind slab or wind effected snow at upper elevations, sun crust on steep southerly slopes, surface hoar and surface facets in sheltered locations. An additional 15-20 cm is expected by Sunday morning, bringing storm totals to 40-60 cm. The mid-January interface (facets) is buried approximately 60-100 cm down and recent snowpack tests have shown hard, yet sudden planar results. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled (strong). However, there remain a number of facet and crust layers that are currently dormant but will require monitoring with additional loading.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Touchy storm slabs reactive to human triggers. Don't forget about what's above your head. Natural avalanches starting in the alpine may run long distances.
Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow and wind.The new snow will require several days to settle and stabilize.Use conservative route selection, choose moderate angled and supported terrain with low consequence.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Feb 5th, 2017 2:00PM
