Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 16th, 2025–Feb 17th, 2025

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

Regions

Lizard-Flathead, Flathead, Lizard.

A buried weak layer exists.

Watch for signs of instability, like whumpfing.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

There were numerous, small dry loose avalanches triggered by riders on Friday and Saturday.

Snowpack Summary

20 cm of low-density snow fell on Friday and Saturday and may have formed deeper deposits in lee areas due to the wind near ridge top.

The storm snow is sitting on 30 to 60 cm of faceted old snow. Below this is a persistent weak layer buried in late January. Which is a crust on sun-exposed slopes, and facets and surface hoar elsewhere.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled, with no other layers of concern.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 10 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with 2 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and clouds. 15 to 25 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Wednesday

Sunny. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
  • Use appropriate sluff management techniques.
  • Make observations and continually assess conditions as you travel.

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.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.