Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Mar 16th, 2020 8:04AM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Loose Dry, Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.
jonas hoke,
Parks Canada
Clear skies and warm temps are in the forecast for today, lather up with sun screen, don't forget your shades, and expect avalanches to become more likely into the afternoon.
Summary
Weather Forecast
A warm ridge of high pressure has moved in from the Pacific. Temperatures are forecast to warm significantly through out the day, valley bottom temps are currently -13 and the freezing level if forecast to climb as high as 1800m today. Clear skies and calm winds will cause solar aspects to heat up quickly.
Snowpack Summary
Most open terrain is heavily wind effected from the strong NE winds Friday-Saturday. The Mar. 10th interface of a suncrust on all solar aspects, and isolated surface hoar, is now buried down 20-40cms. The Feb 22 persistent weak layer is down 90-130cm and consists of 3-7mm surface hoar on all aspects up to 2450m as well as a crust on solar aspects.
Avalanche Summary
Several small loose snow avalanches occured on solar aspects on Saturday.
A large (size 2) slab avalanche occured naturally overnight Saturday in the Observatory path (N aspect at Treeline in the Abbott winter prohibited area) - see MIN.
Confidence
Problems
Loose Dry
With temperatures rising rapidly today, the snow on solar slopes that is crusty in the morning may loose cohesion and become reactive in the afternoon.
- Use extra caution on slopes if the surface snow is moist.
- Minimize exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.
Aspects: South, South West, West.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Wind Slabs
Daytime warming will increase the sensitivity of the wind slabs that formed during the weekends strong N-NE winds. These may overlie a suncrust on steep solar aspects and possibly small surface hoar on shaded slopes.
- Keep an eye out for reverse loading created by North through East winds.
- If triggered the wind slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Aspects: East, South East, South, South West, West, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Persistent Slabs
The February 22 surface hoar/sun crust layer is down 90-130cm. Skier-triggering is possible in shallower areas but otherwise this layer will take a big trigger to be activated such as a small avalanche stepping down or large load impacting the slope.
- Dig down to find and test weak layers before committing to a line.
- Avoid steep convexities or areas with a thin or variable snowpack
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Mar 17th, 2020 8:00AM
