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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 15th, 2020–Dec 16th, 2020

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary.

Fresh snow and moderate southwest winds have likely formed storm slabs that sit on a weak layer of surface hoar in many areas. Use extra caution in wind loaded areas.

Confidence

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Weather Forecast

TUESDAY NIGHT - Cloudy with isolated flurries / southwest wind, 20-40 km/h / alpine low temperature near -6

WEDNESDAY - Cloudy with scattered flurries, 5 cm / southwest wind, 15-30 km/h / alpine high temperature near -4

THURSDAY - Flurries, 5-10 cm / southwest wind, 15-30 km/h / alpine high temperature near -3

FRIDAY - Flurries, 5-15 cm / southwest wind, 15-30 km/h / alpine high temperature near -5

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday, there were reports of numerous natural and human triggered avalanches, size 1-1.5.

Over the last week, avalanche activity has mainly been limited to size 1 skier triggered storm/wind slabs running on the recently buried crust. This great MIN from Friday near Nelson includes a photo of an accidental wind slab.

Please submit your observations to the Mountain Information Network (MIN). Photos are especially helpful! Thank you so much for all the great MINs submitted so far!

Snowpack Summary

10-15 cm of new snow sits on a layer of surface hoar in many areas.

A crust that was buried about a week ago is now down 20-25 cm.

At upper elevations, moderate to strong southwest wind has likely blowing the new snow into fresh slabs that may be reactive to human triggers.

The early November crust is sitting about 10-30 cm up from the ground. There is a late November crust in the midpack in some places as well. Uncertainty with these crusts exists due to limited observations, but there haven't been any recent avalanches reported on these layers in this region.

Snowpack depths vary with elevation, treeline averages between 50-100 cm. 

Terrain and Travel

  • Don't be too cavalier with decision making, storm slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.
  • Be aware of the potential for larger than expected storm slabs due to the presence of buried surface hoar.
  • Keep in mind the crust offers an excellent bed surface for avalanches.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.