Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Glacier.
New snow overnight and increasing winds on Monday will create a storm slab. Carefully evaluate how the new snow is bonding to the buried crust before stepping into consequential terrain.
Travel at lower elevations is very challenging.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
Few natural avalanches have been observed on the highway corridor over the past few days.
Neighboring operations are reporting small wet loose avalanches on solar facing terrain and natural cornice falls.
Snowpack Summary
5-10cm of new snow overnight on Sun with moderate wind building storm slab. Strom slabs sit over a crust which exists on solar slopes in the alpine & on all aspects below 2200m. This Crust will support a skier in most locations and may act as a firm bed surface.
Alpine N facing slopes may not have a crust effecting ski quality but storm slabs will be deeper & more reactive here due to wind loading.
Challenging travel and variable conditions at lower elevations.
Weather Summary
New snow overnight Sunday with moderate wind.
Tonight Flurries. 11 cm snow. Alp low -6°C. Ridge wind W 15- 30km/hr. Freezing Level (FZL) 1200m.
Mon Cloudy with sunny periods & isolated flurries. Trace precip. Alp high -5°C. West wind 20-40. FZL 1600m.
Tues Sun & cloud. No precip. Alp high -3°C. Wind: NW 10-20. FZL 1800m.
Wed Sunny with cloudy periods. No precip. Alpine high -1. Wind NW 10-20.FZL 2100m.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the crust.
- Keep in mind a buried crust offers an excellent bed surface for avalanches.
- Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
Moderate winds and new snow will create a slab in the alpine where snow depths will be the greatest . Evaluate terrain carefully for wind slabs at ridge top in immediate lees.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2