Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 18th, 2021 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
Lisa Paulson,
Enjoy the good skiing that can be found in wind sheltered terrain!
Summary
Weather Forecast
For Tuesday expect strong westerly winds with gusts in the 80-100 km/hr range at ridge top. Highs will be around -6, the last warmish day before upper level temperatures become colder with a north-northwesterly flow bringing very light flurries for Wednesday. Click here for more details. No snow & colder temperatures for the upcoming week.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 10 cm of new snow over thin sun crust on steep solar aspects and over previously wind scoured terrain at treeline and above. Jan 11th interface down 20-35 cm producing mod to hard results. Dec 25th, 13th and 7th layers down 50-120 cm and generally produce hard or no results. A rain crust exists on surface below 1500 m in eastern areas.
Avalanche Summary
For the past couple of days, ski hills only reported small explosive triggered wind slab avalanches and several loose dry avalanches up to size 1.5 have been reported out of very steep terrain. Thank you for all the MIN reports!
Confidence
Due to the number and quality of field observations
Problems
Wind Slabs
Winds Tuesday will add to the wind slabs present in steep lee areas, but there may be little snow left to transport. Treat lee loaded areas with extra caution especially if entering large steep terrain features.
- Use caution in lee areas in the alpine and treeline. Recent storm snow has formed wind slabs.
- Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
Several persistent weak layers are present in the top meter of the snowpack. These are generally not reactive to skier traffic but we still get occasional reports of avalanches on one of the layers, usually on steep convex rolls or in thin areas.
- Use caution on convex rolls at tree line and below where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Treeline, Below Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 19th, 2021 4:00PM
