Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Apr 8th, 2021 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Storm Slabs and Cornices.
astclair,
Avalanche Canada
New snow and strong wind are forming fresh slabs that will likely be reactive to human triggers. Anticipate touchier conditions in wind-drifted areas and dial back terrain where you find more than 25 cm of new snow.
Summary
Confidence
Weather Forecast
Thursday night: Cloudy, 15-25 cm of snow, strong southwest wind, treeline temperatures near -3 C, freezing level near 500 m.
Friday: Mainly cloudy, 5-10 cm of snow, strong southwest wind decreasing to moderate, treeline temperatures -4 C, freezing level near 500 m and dropping to valley bottom overnight.
Saturday: Mix of sun and cloud, isolated light flurries, moderate west wind, treeline temperatures -4 C, freezing level rising to 500 m and dropping to valley bottom overnight.
Sunday: Mix of sun and cloud, light northwest wind, treeline temperatures near -1 C, freezing level rising to 1000 m and dropping to valley bottom overnight.
Avalanche Summary
Since Monday, there have been observations of several large (size 2) storm slabs, numerous small to large (size 1-2) loose wet avalanches, and one instance of a large (size 2) wet slab that failed to the ground from a steep, shallow feature.
Large natural and explosive triggered glide slab avalanche activity has been ongoing for the past few weeks. Glide cracks releasing as full depth glide slab avalanches are extremely difficult to predict. Best practice is to avoid slopes with glide cracks.
Snowpack Summary
An incoming storm is expected to bring 20-30 cm of new snow by Friday afternoon accompanied by strong southwest winds. The new snow will form fresh storm slabs that will likely be more reactive in wind-loaded features.
Cornices are large, looming, and capable of triggering large avalanches when they fail. Previous weak layers are now deeply buried and have not resulted in any recent avalanches. At lower elevations, the new snow is falling on a melt-freeze crust.
Terrain and Travel
- Storm snow and wind is forming touchy slabs. Use caution in lee areas in the alpine and treeline.
- Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 25cm of new snow.
- Expect slab conditions to change drastically as you move into wind exposed terrain.
- Avoid exposure to slopes that have cornices overhead.
Problems
Storm Slabs
20-30 of new snow and strong southwest wind are expected for form fresh storm slabs that will likely be reactive to human triggering. There is a higher likelihood of triggering these slabs in wind-drifted areas.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Cornices
Cornices are large and looming along many ridgelines and have likely grown with the recent snow and wind.
Aspects: North, North East, East, West, North West.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Apr 9th, 2021 4:00PM
