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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 16th, 2022–Apr 17th, 2022

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

Regions

North Columbia.

Cornices often break further back than expected; give them a wide berth when travelling on ridge tops. Wet loose avalanches may occur on sunny slopes in the afternoon. 

Observations are limited at this time of year. Let us know what you are seeing by filling out a MIN report!

Confidence

High - The snowpack structure is generally well understood.

Weather Forecast

SATURDAY NIGHT: Mainly clear. Alpine temperature drops to -5 °C. 10-25 km/h wind from the northwest.

SUNDAY: Cloud cover increases in the afternoon. Alpine temperature rising to -1 °C. Mostly light northwest wind occasionally gusting to 35 km/h.

MONDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries, 5 cm of accumulation. Alpine temperature rising to 0 °C. 20-50 km/h wind from the southeast.

TUESDAY: Cloudy with snowfall, 10 cm of accumulation. Alpine temperature rising to -1 °C. 10-30 km/h wind from the southeast.

Avalanche Summary

Avalanche activity the last week has primarily been large cornice failures on north and east-facing slopes. For the most part, these have not triggered avalanches on the slopes below. The exception was one very large (size 4) persistent slab avalanche on Monday that was triggered by a massive cornice failure on a northeast aspect in the Selkirks. The triggering of this avalanche was only possible with an extremely large load and is not representative of the general conditions of the region as a whole.

On Friday, Glacier National Park reported a natural wind slab avalanche (size 2) from a south-facing aspect.

Snowpack Summary

At treeline and above up to 20 cm of consolidated, wind-affected snow covers a crust all aspects up to 2200 m and mountain tops on solar aspects. Recent northeast wind has formed wind slabs on lee aspects below ridgetops and left a variety of wind-affected surfaces. Another prominent crust layer is found 30-70 cm deep. 

Cornices are very large and exposure to slopes beneath them should be minimized, especially if the weather is sunny, warm, or windy.

Terrain and Travel

  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.

Problems

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.