Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 14th, 2023–Jan 15th, 2023

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Lizard-Flathead, Flathead, Lizard, Moyie.

Continue to practice good travel habits: regroup in safe locations, limit the number of people exposed to avalanche terrain, and be suspicious of shallow or rocky ridges and start zones.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Wet loose avalanches were reported Friday with warming temperatures.

Please continue to share any observations or photos on the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

Wet flurries and high freezing levels produced moist surface snow above 2100 m. As temperatures cool a crust will form.

A facet/crust layer is down 50-90 cm (and 2-10 cm thick at TL elevation), and the mid-pack below is settled and consolidated.

Another crust/facet layer is down 70-150 cm. Below this crust, the basal snowpack is weak and faceted. Treeline snow depths average 120-200 cm.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Cloudy with isolated flurries Light south ridgetop wind. Treeline low temperature below -4 C. Freezing level falling below 1000 m.

Sunday

Isolated flurries through the day, up to 5 cm. Increasingly gusty southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -1 C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Monday

Cloudy with flurries, up to 5 cm. Light southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature -1 C, freezing level 1300 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with isolated flurries. Light southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature -3 C. Freezing level 1100 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • The more the snowpack warms-up and weakens, the more conservative you`ll want to be with your terrain selection.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.