Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Jan 6th, 2022 4:00PM

The alpine rating is considerable, the treeline rating is considerable, and the below treeline rating is moderate. Known problems include Wind Slabs and Persistent Slabs.

Grant Statham,

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Heads up as conditions change overnight and Friday with extreme winds and 10-20 cm in the forecast. Stay in sheltered areas over the next few days as the wind will transport a lot of loose snow into leeward areas and windslabs will develop quickly.

Summary

Weather Forecast

A strong westerly flow is established with a Pacific low pressure system off the coast sending moisture our way. Expect 10-20 cm of snow by Saturday morning and extreme winds starting overnight Thursday and into Friday (> 100 km/hr). Temperatures will moderate from the cold snap and we could see highs of -5 on Friday before back to -20 on Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

15-30 cm of snow has fallen over the past week, making for deep powder snow on the surface. This changes on Thurs night with the arrival of strong SW winds, expected to create sensitive windslabs at treeline and in alpine areas as all of that loose snow gets blown around. These slabs may bond poorly to the underlying facets from the cold snap.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported or observed in the past 24-hours.

Confidence

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs

Windslabs will be building overnight Thursday and all day on Friday. These will be sensitive with the cold facets underneath. Stay away from leeward, loaded terrain. Stick to ridges and high ground.

  • Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
  • Watch for surface cracking and stiffer surface layers of snow. Avoid wind loaded terrain.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Likely

Expected Size

1 - 2.5

Persistent Slabs

An icon showing Persistent Slabs

The Dec. 2 crust/facets are down 50-80 cm throughout the region, but we have seen limited avalanche activity on this layer. We believe it only exists as a problem in Kootenay Park, but there is a high degree of uncertainty around this layer.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Treeline, Below Treeline.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2.5

Valid until: Jan 7th, 2022 4:00PM