Avalanche forecast

Sea To Sky

Jan 31, 2017Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low

Highlights

A week of cold clear weather. Watch for wind slabs lingering at higher elevations.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Watch for pockets of wind slabs on exposed features near ridge crests and cross-loaded gullies.

Avalanche Summary

Small wind slabs were reactive to human triggers on northerly aspects over the weekend (in the size 1-1.5 range). Wind slabs may continue to be reactive in the lee of exposed terrain at higher elevations.

Confidence

High - The weather pattern is stable

Weather Forecast

Cool clear weather all week. Sunny with 30 km/h northeast winds and treeline temperatures around -8 C.

Snowpack Summary

Strong winds and 5-15 cm of new snow over the weekend have formed fresh wind slabs in the lee of exposed terrain. The new snow sits above a thin breakable sun crust and isolated pockets of surface hoar, potentially creating weak interfaces for wind slabs to propagate along. Old lingering wind slabs may also exist in the immediate lee of ridges. A total of 60-120 cm of settled storm snow now forms the upper snowpack and is well generally bonded to a crust below. The exception may be thin rocky areas. The mid and lower snowpack are generally well settled, but still feature a number of facet and crust layers that warrant long term monitoring.

Regions covered