Avalanche forecast

South Rockies

Jan 5, 2017Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Cold weather continues! Please submit your observations to the MIN.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Recent strong winds have been from several directions, creating wind slabs and reverse loading. Expect these wind slabs to continue to be easy to trigger, and may take longer than usual to settle and bond due to the cold temperatures

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–3
    Where denser snow overlies weak, sugary snow, there is the potential to trigger large, dangerous avalanches. Dig down and test for weak layers before committing to any steep slope.

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

The arctic outbreak continues with cold temperatures and no snow until Sunday at the earliest.THURSDAY: A mix of sun and cloud. Wind light southwest 15-30 Km/h. Temperatures between -14and -24 Celcius. No precipitation.FRIDAY: Sunny with cloudy periods. Wind becoming southwesterly 15-25 Km/h. Temperatures between -14 and -24 Celcius. No precipitation.SATURDAY: Increasing clouds late in the day with a chance of flurries. Winds light southerly 5-10 Km/h. Temperatures between -12 and -24 Celcius.

Avalanche Summary

No new observed.

Snowpack Summary

The recent storm snow has been transported by northeast winds into wind slabs on south and west aspects. In some areas these wind slabs may be sitting on an old scoured surface that was stripped by previous strong westerly winds that developed wind slabs on north and east aspects. The newer wind slabs are probably easier to trigger, but the old wind slabs may continue to release with the added load of a rider, especially where they are sitting on a shallow weak sugary base. The mid snowpack is generally right side up, with the mid-December interface down 40-80cms, giving inconsistent results in snowpack tests. There is some faceting below this interface but resistances are good and showing signs of rounding (stabilizing). Travel conditions have been challenging and little change is expected until the next warm up helps to settle the snowpack.

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