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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 10th, 2022–Mar 11th, 2022

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

Regions

Purcells.

 Continue to assess the wind effect as you gain elevation. Wind slab could be found in unusual locations due to recent north winds. 

Confidence

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to extremely variable snowpack conditions reported through the region.

Weather Forecast

Thursday night: possibility of light flurries bringing trace amounts of new snow. Light to moderate west northwest winds. Low of -13 in the North of the region and -8 in the south. 

Friday: cloudy with light flurries bringing trace amounts of new snow. Moderate westerly wind. High of -3 at 1800m.

Saturday: cloudy with light flurries bringing up to 5cm of new snow. Light southwest winds with freezing levels rising to 1800m.

Sunday: cloudy with light precipitation bringing up to 5cm of snow at higher elevations. Freezing level rising to 1700m. Light southwest winds.

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday one skier triggered size 1 wind slab avalanche was reported. This avalanche was triggered on a south facing slope at treeline.

Human triggered avalanche activity has largely tapered off since Friday when several riders triggered storm slabs and loose dry avalanches in the recent snow, including this remotely triggered size 1.5 near Golden.

Snowpack Summary

Soft wind slabs can be found on southerly aspects in alpine and exposed treeline terrain.

The late February layer is down 20 to 40cm. This layer consists of a crust on solar aspects and all aspects at lower elevations. This layer presents as facets on northerly terrain and surface hoar in sheltered treeline features.

A layer of surface hoar from late January has not produced recent avalanche activity but it can still be identified 40-50 cm deep near Golden.

Terrain and Travel

  • Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.