Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 17th, 2019–Dec 18th, 2019

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 possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

South Rockies.

Snow in the forecast for the end of the week! Until then, triggering an avalanche is most likely in wind affected terrain and steep, rocky slopes.

Confidence

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

Weather Forecast

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy. Alpine temperature -9 C. Southwest wind 30-45 km/hr.

Wednesday: Mix of sun and cloud. Alpine temperature -6 C. Southwest wind 25-35 km/hr.

Thursday: Flurries, trace to 5 cm. Alpine temperature -8. Southwest wind 20-35 km/hr.

Friday: Snow, 20-25 cm. Alpine temperature -4 C. Southwest wind 20-40 gusting to 75 km/hr.

Avalanche Summary

A few small (size 1) natural avalanches were noted around the Castle area on Tuesday and skiers reported fresh wind slabs cracking underfoot.

Snowpack Summary

Wind has scoured exposed terrain and formed wind slabs in the alpine, and around lee features and lower into start zones.

The bottom half of the snowpack consists of crusts from November and October and basal facets. These persistent weak layers produced large avalanches over a week ago but have since gained strength.

Overall, a shallow and variable snowpack is found around the region. Snowpack depths range between 50-150 cm at higher elevations and taper rapidly below treeline.