Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Akamina, Bull, Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South, Elkford East, Elkford West, Flathead, Lizard, Lizard-Flathead, South Rockies.
Verify the forecast with your local conditions. As snow accumulates on Wednesday, both natural and human-triggered avalanches may become likely.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
Numerous natural and explosive-triggered avalanches, up to size 2, failing on the buried crust/facet combination occurred throughout the region on Monday.
A fatal avalanche incident occurred on Saturday near Gardiner Creek. It is believed that the same layer of facets on a crust was the failure layer. You can read more details here.
Snowpack Summary
Roughly 30 to 50 cm of recent snowfall has buried a variety of potential weak layers, including sun crusts on south-facing slopes and faceted snow or surface hoar in north-facing terrain.
A widespread crust formed in early February is buried by 50 to 100 cm. In some areas, weak faceted grains have formed above and/or below the crust.
The remaining snowpack is generally well-settled, with no current concerns.
Weather Summary
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -13 °C.
Wednesday
Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.
Thursday
Cloudy with 10 to 30 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.
Friday
Friday with 2 to 10 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
- Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
- Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
Snow continues to accumulate atop various potential weak layers and good sliding surfaces. Expect slab size and reactivity to increase in wind-loaded terrain features.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely - Very Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5
Persistent Slabs
Weak faceted grains have formed above and below a widespread crust that is buried by 50 to 100 cm.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 2 - 3.5