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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 9th, 2022–Apr 10th, 2022

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

Purcells.

Check for pockets of wind slab around steep and high-consequence features.

Confidence

Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain.

Weather Forecast

Saturday night: Blustery with alpine flurries, up to 5 cm. Light west winds. Freezing level valley bottom, ridgetop low -10 C.

Sunday: Bands of convective moisture producing localized flurries up to 10 cm. Light southwest winds. Ridgetop high -3 C.

Monday: Overnight flurries bringing trace to 10 cm. Increasing east wind. Ridgetop high -4 C.

Tuesday: Cloudy with isolated flurries. Moderate northeast wind. Ridgetop high -10 C.

Avalanche Summary

A loose wet avalanche cycle from solar slopes began late Thursday afternoon. Explosives also triggered several size 1 wind slabs, all about 20 cm thick.

On Wednesday, a size 3 natural wind slab was observed on a northeast aspect at 2300 m.

Snowpack Summary

Wind has impacted 5-30 cm of recent snowfall. This covers a crust up to 2200 m and to mountain top on steep, solar slopes.

A thick rain crust with facets above from early December is buried around 100-200 cm deep. Large avalanches were naturally triggered on this layer during the last significant warming event in western terrain near the Bugaboos. With cold temperatures, avalanche activity on this layer is unlikely, however could easily wake up again with the next major input of moisture or heat.

Terrain and Travel

  • Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

Problems

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.