Avalanche forecast

South Rockies

Apr 1 – 2, 2019Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 8 years ago

Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low

Highlights

With a mix of weather in the forecast, keep an eye out for changing conditions. Prolonged periods of sunshine, and rising temperatures will increase the likelihood of loose wet avalanches on sun-exposed slopes, especially in areas with fresh snow.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–1.5
    15 cm new snow accumulated over a crust on Monday and is rapidly settling with warm temperatures. Sunshine and air temperatures above 0 C can rapidly increase the likelihood of triggering loose wet avalanches, especially in areas with fresh snow.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

MONDAY NIGHT - Cloudy with clear periods / winds north, 10-25 km/h / alpine low temperature near -5 / freezing level valley bottomTUESDAY - Mix of sun and cloud / light southeast winds / alpine high temperature near 0 / freezing level 1900 mWEDNESDAY - Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries, trace accumulation / light southwest winds, gusting to 40 km/h / alpine high temperature near +1 / freezing level 2000 m THURSDAY - Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries, trace to 5 cm accumulation / light west winds, gusting to 55 km/h / alpine high temperature near +1 / freezing level 2000 m

Avalanche Summary

If the sun comes out for prolonged periods of time, the chances of loose avalanches will increase, especially in areas with fresh snow.On Friday, there were reports of a few loose wet avalanches up to size 1.5 out of steep, sun-exposed terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Around 15 cm new snow overlies a thick crust on most aspects and elevations and is rapidly settling with warm temperatures. On north facing terrain in the alpine, the underlying snow remains dry. The snowpack on sun exposed slopes in the alpine and all aspects at treeline and below may become moist or wet during the heat of the day, especially if the sun comes out.Lower down in the snowpack, the base is composed of weak facets (sugary snow). In areas that remained more sheltered from the heat, human triggering of persistent slabs on this layer may still be possible; especially in rocky alpine terrain with a shallow or highly variable depth snowpack.

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