Avalanche forecast

Cirrus-Wilson

Feb 12 – 13, 2023Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

The incoming weather system is expected to raise the avalanche hazard over the next couple days.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

    Strong SW winds continue to move all the new snow that fell over the last few days, forming wind slabs in lee and cross loaded features.

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–1.5

    Watch out for loose wet avalanches initiating on solar aspects at lower elevations as temperatures rise.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3

    The bottom of the snow pack is inherently weak with well developed Facets and Depth Hoar. Numerous large natural and explosive triggered avalanches in the past week have run on this layer.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
  • In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Natural avalanches up to size 2.5 continue to be observed in the icefields region, initiating in alpine and exposed tree line features.

Avalanche control with explosives on Wednesday resulted in numerous avalanches with several of them being size 3 running to the bottom of the avalanche paths.

Don't forget to post avalanche observations to the MIN.

Snowpack Summary

Strong south west winds continue to redistribute the 10 to 30cm that fell over the last week, and have created thick wind slabs in the alpine and exposed tree line. Generally, the mid and bottom of the snowpack is weak facets with depth hoar at the base.

Weather Summary

A low pressure system moving through BC will bring rising temperatures and strong winds on Sunday, with most precipitation beginning Sunday night.

Detailed weather forecasts from Avalanche Canada: https://avalanche.ca/weather/forecast

Regions covered