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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 7th, 2023–Jan 8th, 2023

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary, Lizard-Flathead, Bonnington, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, Ymir, Flathead, Lizard, Moyie.

Human-triggered deep slab avalanches remain possible. Use extra caution in higher elevation terrain with shallow, variable snowpacks.

Read more about this winter's widespread persistent weak layers in our recent Forecasters Blog

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A few large natural avalanches were reported on Thursday, in the west of the region. They occurred in steep, shallow, rocky terrain features above 2000 m, failing on deep persistent layers.

Otherwise now new, significant avalanche activity has been reported.

Please continue to share any observations or photos on the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

The upper snowpack continues to settle and bond with mild temperatures. A thick, supportive melt-freeze crust is buried by 30 to 60 cm and is present up to roughly 2000 m elevation. Below the crust, the mid-snowpack is generally well consolidated with no layers of concern. A layer buried in November consisting of facets, surface hoar, and/or a crust remains a concern, near the base of the snowpack.

Treeline snow depths are roughly 150 to 200 cm.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Mostly cloudy, with isolated flurries and trace amounts of snow. Light to moderate southerly winds. Treeline temperatures 0 to -5 C.

Sunday

Cloudy with light snow, 2 to 5 cm. Light to moderate southerly winds. Treeline temperatures 0 to -5 C. Freezing levels 1000 m.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with flurries, 0 to 5 cm. Light southerly winds. Treeline temperatures 0 to -5 C. Freezing levels 1000 m.

Tuesday

Mix of sun and cloud, no precipitation. Light southerly winds. Treeline temperatures -5 to -10 C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Don't let the desire for deep powder pull you into high consequence terrain.
  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.