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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 23rd, 2025–Feb 24th, 2025

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Glacier.

Natural avalanches are likely with the continuing strong, gusty winds and additional snowfall onto a complex, upper snowpack.

Until cooler, calmer weather arrives and the snowpack has time to adjust to the new load, danger levels will remain elevated.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A natural avalanche cycle started Sat night and continues into the Sunday. Numerous avalanches to sz 3 have been detected within the highway corridor.

Low elevation areas (below 1000m) with a thin, faceted snowpack (ie Beaver Valley) seem to be failing to ground under the new weight of heavy slop/rain.

Artillery control late Saturday night produced avalanches with nearly every shot, some up to sz 3.5, with far-reaching powder clouds hitting the valley floor and beyond.

Snowpack Summary

30-40cm of heavy storm snow sits on a faceted upper snowpack. Strong, gusty SW winds are creating windslabs at Alpine and Tree-line elevations.

A weak layer of surface hoar, facets and/or suncrust (Jan 30th) is 50-80cm down. This layer is easy to pick out in the snowpack and is reactive in tests.

Low elevation zones with a thin snowpack should be treated with caution. The cold, weak facets at the base are now overloaded by the heavy, warm storm snow.

Weather Summary

Windy and warm, with uncertainty on snowfall amounts the next couple of days.

Tonight 10-15cm. Alpine low -7°C. Ridge winds SW 40km/h gusting to 85. Freezing Level (FZL) 1100m

Mon 5-10cm. Alp high -6°C. Ridge wind SW 30km/h gusting 60. FZL 1400m

Tues 5-10cm. Alp high -6°C. Ridge wind SW 30-40km/h. FZL 1500m

Wed Cloudy, isolated flurries. Trace snowfall. Alp high -4°C. Ridge wind SW 20km/h. FZL 1600m

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Stick to non-avalanche terrain or small features with limited consequence.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.