Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Feb 7th, 2023 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Storm Slabs.
rgoddard,
Avalanche Canada
***UPDATED***
Considerable hazard at all elevations due to the likelihood of reactive storm slabs at all elevations.
Recent snowfall, moderate winds, and warm temperatures have created a number of avalanche problems.
Watch for signs of instability and continually reassess conditions as you travel.
Summary
Confidence
Avalanche Summary
In the last several days, no avalanche activity has been reported. There is a high potential for human-triggered avalanches as slab formation probability is at high.
Please continue to post your reports and photos to the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
Around 35 to 40 cm of new snow now sits on a variety of surfaces. It will have been redistributed at higher elevations by moderate to strong southwest winds.
A melt-freeze crust formed in mid-January is now buried 50 to 80 cm deep. Weak, faceted crystals have been observed growing above it meaning it may pose a problem going forward. On the bright side, it is one of several crusts bridging other weak layers in the mid to lower snowpack, meaning that triggering deeper avalanches on them is unlikely.
Snowpack depths are significantly below seasonal averages for this time of year, 150 to 200 cm at treeline, tapering rapidly below 1500 m.
Weather Summary
Tuesday Night
Cloudy, up to 10 cm accumulation, winds southwest 35 to 50 km/h, treeline temperatures -3 to -5 C.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny with cloudy periods, no accumulation, winds west 15 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 C.
Thursday
Sunny with possible cloudy periods, trace accumulation, winds south southwest 25 to 35, treeline temperatures warming to 0 C.
Friday
Cloudy with afternoon sunny breaks, up to 5 cm accumulation, winds southwest 25 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -2 to -4 C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
- Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
- Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
- The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Our most recent storm system brought significant snowfall throughout our region. Wind and warm temperatures will have created ideal conditions for reactive slab avalanches.
Moderate to strong southerly winds have and will continue to redistribute this snow creating large potentially reactive wind slab.
Warm temperatures caused snow to be turned to rain at lower elevations possibly creating the conditions for wet loose avalanches.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Feb 8th, 2023 4:00PM
