Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
- Alpine
- Treeline
- Below treeline
- Likelihood
- Unlikely - Possible
- Size
- 1–2
Hard wind slabs remain possible to trigger. If triggered, they could scour down into the soft faceted snow beneath them.
Avalanche forecast
View on mapSouth Rockies
Mar 5, 2019Avalanche Canada
Archived · expired 8 years ago
Avalanche danger
Wed
Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
Highlights
Cold dry conditions continue. Watch for signs of instability as you travel, such as whumpfing, cracking, and recent avalanches.
Avalanche problems
Confidence
Moderate -
Weather Forecast
MONDAY NIGHT: Clear, light east wind, alpine temperatures drop to -15 C.TUESDAY: Sunny, light southeast wind, alpine high temperatures near -10 C.WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace accumulations, light southeast wind with moderate gusts, alpine high temperatures near -8 C.THURSDAY: Isolated flurries with 3-8 cm of snow, 40-60 km/h southwest wind, alpine high temperatures near -5 C.
Avalanche Summary
On small (size 1) slab was triggered in steep terrain on Monday. On Saturday and Friday, a few size 1 wind slab avalanches were triggered by skiers and some small natural wind slabs were observed.
Snowpack Summary
10-20 cm of recent snow with moderate winds has likely formed wind slabs in exposed terrain. Older wind slabs are buried under the new snow and may be difficult to detect. Cold temperatures have been transforming most of the snowpack into soft faceted snow. In thicker snowpack areas, you may find a slab sitting above a layer of facets and surface hoar that was buried in mid-January and is now 30-60 cm deep. The layer is most prominent in the Elk Valley between 1600 m and 1900 m, but no recent avalanche activity has been reported on this layer.