Avalanche forecast

South Columbia

Apr 18 – 19, 2015Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Danger ratings reflect conditions during the hottest parts of the day. Time your travel to take advantage of cool temperatures.

Avalanche problems

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    2–5
    Large cornices are expected to become weak with daytime warming, especially when exposed to the sun. Cornices have the potential to trigger large slab avalanches.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–4
    A touchy interface down 40-60 cm can be triggered by people (even from a distance) or with a natural trigger like cornice fall or sunshine.

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2
    Strong sunshine is expected to trigger loose wet avalanches on steep sun-exposed slopes. These have the potential to trigger larger slab avalanches.

Confidence

Fair - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain

Weather Forecast

Sunday and Monday should bring warm, dry weather with light winds. The freezing level climbs to 2200 m by Sunday and rises further to 2600 m on Monday.

Avalanche Summary

A round of solar-triggered loose wet avalanches was observed on Friday. A size 2 slab also failed naturally on o NE aspect at ridge top. Whumpfing was reported in the Selkirks.On Thursday, skiers remotely triggered size 1-2 slabs (from 40 m away) on SE-NE aspects between 2000 and 2450 m. These all failed on the April weak layer, around 40 cm down. There was also a natural loose and slab avalanche cycle on solar aspects up to size 2.5.Avalanche activity is expected to continue as the temperatures rise.

Snowpack Summary

A troublesome weak layer is down 40-60cm. This layer consists of surface hoar and facets overlying a melt-freeze crust. Avalanches continue to fail on this layer, especially in the north of the region. In exposed alpine terrain, recent strong SW winds formed wind slabs in leeward features. Large cornices exist and may become weak with daytime warming. There are three dormant persistent weak layers that we are continuing to track. The late-March crust is down 50-70cm and was reactive last week during the warm period. The mid-March and mid-February layers are typically down between 70 and 100cm and have been dormant for several weeks. These layers have the potential to wake up with sustained warming, a significant rain event, and/or a big cornice fall.

Regions covered