Avalanche forecast

Cirrus-Wilson

Feb 9 – 10, 2023Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Sun
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Wednesday's explosive control near Parker Ridge resulted in numerous avalanches, including several large avalanches stepping down to ground. Keep your terrain choices conservative and pay attention to your overhead hazard.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    New snow with moderate to strong southwest wind created wind slabs in the alpine and exposed tree line features.

  • Loose Dry

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

    Watch for dry loose avalanche especially in areas with high consequence like terrain traps

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3

    Recent avalanche control had several large avalanche stepping down to this layer. The bottom of the snow pack is inherently weak with well developed Facets and Depth Hoar.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday one large natural avalanche was observed from a cornice failure in the alpine. Explosive avalanche control 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

Around 20cm of snow fell in the Icefields area during the storm. Strong south west winds has created new wind slabs in the alpine and exposed tree line. This new snow adds to 20cm of settled snow from early February. Generally, the mid and bottom of the snowpack is weak facets with depth hoar at the base. The snowpack ranges from 60 to 140cm.

Weather Summary

Thursday

Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated flurries.

Precipitation: Trace.

Alpine temperature: High -7 °C.

Ridge wind southwest: 20 km/h.

Freezing level at valley bottom.

Friday

Flurries.

Accumulation: 11 cm.

Alpine temperature: Low -10 °C, High -6 °C.

Ridge wind southwest: 20 km/h gusting to 50 km/h.

Freezing level at valley bottom.

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

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
  • Watch for signs of slab formation throughout the day.
  • Give the new snow time to settle and stabilize before pushing into bigger terrain.

Regions covered