Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 5th, 2022 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Storm Slabs.
ross campbell,
The avalanche hazard will start to rise on Thursday, and peak on Friday as we receive more new snow, rising temperatures, and strong wind!
Summary
Weather Forecast
The forecast for Thursday is 15cm of new snow with mod southerly winds and a mild rise in temperature. Another 15 is expected to fall Thursday night into Friday, with strong southerly winds and a significant rise in temperature. On Saturday the snow eases off, with mild flurries, then drying conditions as a high pressure starts to move over us.
Snowpack Summary
~35cm of new storm snow overlies colder facetted snow in sheltered locations. In exposed areas in the Alpine and at Treeline, moderate winds formed soft slabs along ridge crests and unprotected terrain features. The Dec 1 crust is buried 80-130cm, with faceted snow above and below it (especially in shallow areas).
Avalanche Summary
Several avalanches to size 3 were observed in the steep paths of Macdonald and Tupper on Tuesday morning. These were triggered by mod-strong southerly wind. Frequent flyer was reported to have avalanched on Monday night to size 2.5.
Confidence
Due to the number and quality of field observations
Problems
Storm Slabs
Isolated soft slabs can be found in the Alpine and exposed areas of Treeline. The new storm snow overlies a previous facetted (sugary snow) interface, which might take some time to bond. Expect avalanche activity to peak on Friday.
- If triggered the storm slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
- Watch for signs of instability such as whumpfing, or cracking.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 6th, 2022 4:00PM
