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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 25th, 2024–Jan 26th, 2024

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
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, Bonnington, Grohman, Kootenay Pass, Norns, Rossland, South Okanagan, Ymir, Crawford, Moyie, St. Mary.

Persistent problems are best managed with patience and conservative terrain choices.

Choose terrain without terrain traps, free from overhead hazards.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported at the time of publishing today.

Numerous natural and human-triggered large (size 2) avalanches, 30 to 90 cm deep, were reported on Tuesday and Wednesday. Some were remotely triggered from far away. The activity was on all aspects, treeline and above, and often involved buried facets.

Snowpack Summary

The snowpack has two buried weak layers of concern:

  • A layer of facets and surface hoar buried 30 to 60 cm deep, covered by a thin crust at lower elevations but remaining active higher up. This started as a storm slab and has persisted as a problem.

  • A crust and facet combo from the new year down 80 to 100 cm. This layer seems to be becoming active now that it has a significant load over it from the continued trickle of snow.

Currently, the mid and lower snowpack is generally well-bonded, featuring a thick crust near its base.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -6 °C.

Friday

Cloudy with a trace of snow, southwest alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature 0 °C, freezing level climbing to 1800 m by the afternoon.

Sunday

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow or rain, southwest alpine winds 20 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature 2 °C, freezing level climbing through the night and reaching 2700 m by the afternoon.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
  • Avoid steep convex slopes.
  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.