Avalanche forecast

Northwest Inland

Feb 24 – 25, 2017Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Weak sugary snow in the bottom third of the snowpack continue to be a concern for triggering large avalanches.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Changing wind directions may develop new wind slabs on south through west aspects. Old wind slabs may continue to linger on other aspects.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–4
    A weakness at the bottom of the snowpack is lingering and may be triggered in shallow snowpack areas or by the weight of smaller avalanches.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Tonight: Mostly clear with moderate northeast winds and -10 in the alpine. Saturday: Overcast with light snow (3-5cm), moderate northwest winds, and alpine temperatures -10. Sunday: Mostly clear with some convective flurries, light northeast winds, and alpine temperatures near -15. Monday: Clear with moderate easterly winds, and alpine temperatures near -15. 

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches reported.

Snowpack Summary

10-15 cm of recent storm snow has been transported by the wind, and now sits on a variety of old surface conditions including isolated wind slabs, pockets of soft snow (5-10 cm deep), sun crusts, and surface hoar. A supportive rain crust exists below 1000 m. A layer of surface hoar that was buried on February 10th may exist 30-60 cm below the surface, but there's a fair bit of uncertainty regarding the reactivity and distribution of this layer. A stiff mid pack sits above weak sugary snow near the ground. Although possibly dormant, this basal weakness has the potential to produce very large destructive avalanches.

Regions covered