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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 24th, 2014–Mar 25th, 2014

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary.

Confidence

Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain on Tuesday

Weather Forecast

Tuesday: Mainly cloudy with showers or flurries – 5-10 cm. The freezing level should climb to around 2000 m (or a little higher). Ridge winds are light to moderate from the SW.  Wednesday: Cloudy with flurries – 5-10 cm. The freezing level is around 1500 m and ridge winds are light to moderate from the W-SW. Thursday: Cloudy with flurries. The freezing level is around 1400 m and ridge winds are light.

Avalanche Summary

Avalanche activity on the weekend was primarily reported as loose snow sluffing in steep terrain and a few rider triggered slab avalanches involving the recent storm snow. None of the recent activity has stepped down to deeper persistent weaknesses.

Snowpack Summary

5 - 10 cm of convective snowfall from Saturday night brings snow totals from the last week to 25 - 50cm of light density snow. This makes for 55 - 80cm on top of the March 10th crust. This crust is widespread to 2000m across the region, perhaps even higher on solar aspects. There are reports of the crust being as thick as 15cm in the south of the region, but it varies in thickness and supportability. As you head north in the region where the mountains are higher (and temperatures were colder when the crust was forming), this crust is less likely to exist. If you're heading to the north or the region, it's worth checking out the South Columbia bulletin too.A facet/crust persistent weakness buried at the beginning of February, now down 70 - 200cm, has been highly variable in terms of reactivity but still shows 'sudden' results in some snowpack tests. In areas where the strong and supportive near surface crust exists, triggering this layer has become unlikely. That said, this layer is still difficult to trust and any avalanche at these deeper, persistent interfaces would be large and destructive.

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.

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.