Avalanche forecast

Lizard-Flathead

Jan 13, 2017Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low

Highlights

Wind slabs may be reactive to rider triggering. The safest, best riding may be in lower elevation terrain sheltered from the wind.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–2
    Recently formed wind slabs may still be reactive to rider triggering. Wind direction has changed recently and wind slabs may exist on all aspects.

Confidence

Moderate - Wind effect is extremely variable

Weather Forecast

The dominating arctic ridge is slowly breaking down as we transition to a more zonal (westerly) flow. Cloudy with some sunny periods, westerly winds and slightly warmer alpine temperatures will persist through the weekend. A more significant change to come early next week.Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday: Mostly cloudy skies. Ridgetop winds will be light gusting moderate from the SW-W and alpine temperatures near -14.

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanche activity reported on Thursday. With the winds recently switching directions, wind slabs should be expected on a variety of aspects.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 20 cm of recent snow has buried a plethora of old snow surfaces which consists of wind scoured surfaces, old wind slabs, surface hoar up to 20 mm in sheltered terrain, and/or faceted old snow. Recent moderate winds from all directions is has redistributed some of this new snow on leeward slopes and behind terrain features. Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December persistent weak facet layer has been more prominent and reactive in the Corbin area than areas closer to Fernie. The layer is generally considered dormant at the moment, but its status may change if we head into a warmer, wetter period next week.

Regions covered