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

Dec 9th, 2021–Dec 10th, 2021

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

Regions

Yukon.

AM Update: Snowfall and wind have been much lighter than forecast. Pay attention to any changes in weather conditions and be ready to re-evaluate terrain choices.

Confidence

High - We have a good understanding of the snowpack structure and confidence in the weather forecast

Weather Forecast

Approaching storm should peak overnight but continue through much of Friday.

Thursday Overnight: South winds cranking up into the 60 to 110 km/hr range.

Friday: Strong to extreme south winds gradually lessening to moderate (approx 40 km/hr). Expect 10 to 20 cm of total storm snow. Temperatures around -10 C.

Saturday: Broken or overcast sky, light north east wind, a few flurries, and cooling temperatures nudging towards -20's C.

Sunday: Similar to Saturday only a few degrees cooler. Touching -25 C is possible.

Avalanche Summary

Our AvCan field team reported whumpfs and shooting cracks up to 10 m from thin snowpack areas in the Fraser Chutes on Wednesday. No new avalanches observed today (Thursday).

Snowpack Summary

Here's a picture of my mental map of the region's snowpack.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid areas with overhead hazard.
  • Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
  • Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.
  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.