Avalanche forecast

South Coast

Jan 25, 2018Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 9 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

New snow and wind are creating deeper and increasingly destructive storm slabs ripe for human triggering. Sticking to simple terrain would be a great way to manage the elevated hazard on Thursday.

Avalanche problems

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–2.5
    Large amounts of recent new snow and high winds are creating rapid cornice growth.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1.5–2.5
    Forecast new snow and wind on Wednesday night are expected to continue to create touchy storm slabs reactive to human triggers.

Confidence

Moderate - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

Weather Forecast

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: 15-30cm of new snow / Strong to extreme southwesterly ridgetop winds / Freezing level around 1000m.THURSDAY: 10-20cm of new snow / Moderate southwesterly ridgetop winds / Freezing level dropping to around 600m.FRIDAY: 5-10cm of new snow / Light southwesterly ridgetop winds / Freezing level around 600m.SATURDAY: 5-10 cm of new snow / Light to moderate southwesterly ridgetop winds / Freezing level around 600m.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been reported, but that may speak more to a lack of observations rather than actual conditions. Looking forward, forecast snow and wind will promote ongoing storm slab avalanche activity, especially in higher elevation, lee terrain.

Snowpack Summary

In recent days the region was pummeled by heavy precipitation with the rain line hovering around 800m. 20cm of new snow is being redistributed by moderate southerly ridgetop winds. The reactivity of the new storm slabs is likely to vary greatly depending on elevation/ temperature and orientation to wind. In general, I would expect the touchiest conditions to exist in exposed, higher elevation terrain.

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