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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 19th, 2025–Jan 20th, 2025

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Yukon, Tutshi, Wheaton, White Pass East, White Pass West.

Natural avalanches are likely in the White Pass area as strong winds and new snow stress a weak snowpack.

Avoid avalanche terrain and any overhead hazard.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Natural and human triggered avalanches are expected as Mondays storm will stress a weak snowpack.

On Friday riders triggered a slab with a 1 m crown depth in the Big Y. On Wednesday, a snowmobile remotely triggered a size 3 persistent slab on the December facet/crust layer from 100 m away near Bryant Lake. It was triggered from flat terrain at the col on an ENE aspect at 1500 m.

Snowpack Summary

By Monday afternoon 20 cm of wind affected storm snow likely has fallen at White Pass with deep deposits expected in wind loaded terrain. This will fall over up to 40 cm of heavily wind affected snow. Strong southwest winds will continue to redistribute snow where it is available for transport.

A weak layer of facets and a crust is buried 50 to 100 cm deep and continues to be reactive with the new load from snow and wind.

Total snow depths are around 160 to 190 cm at treeline.

Check out this recent conditions report for more on the persistent weak layer problem.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy. Up to 5 cm of snow. 80 gusting to 100 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8°C.

Monday

Cloudy, possible afternoon sunny periods. 5 to 15 cm of snow, favouring White Pass. 60 to 80 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy. 50 to 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
  • Remote triggering is a concern; avoid terrain where triggering overhead slopes is possible.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.