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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 24th, 2024–Feb 25th, 2024

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

Regions

Glacier.

Strong to Extreme winds are transporting the new snow rapidly and increasing the hazard to high. There is also a significant buried weak layer that could produce large avalanches.

Sunday would be a great day to slash some pow at your local hill.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A few natural slab avalanches were initiated by the wind from the highway corridor on Sat, up to size 3 and reaching into the fan.

Natural slab avalanches as big as sz 2.5 were observed Thursday from the steep north facing terrain of Mt. Macdonald & Mt. Green.

On Wednesday, a field team triggered loose, moist avalanches below tree-line in steep, unsupported terrain.

Snowpack Summary

10-30cm of new snow is being redistributed by strong to extreme Southerly wind. Below this, the upper snowpack consists of well settled storm snow, thin sun crusts on steep solar aspects, and the faceted drought layer over the Feb 3rd crust (which is widespread below 2500m).

The mid to lower snowpack is we settled, except in isolated areas of the alpine where an unusually thin & faceted snowpack exists.

Weather Summary

A cold front approaches bringing snow and strong to extreme winds. As the storm passes, temps will drop.

Tonight: 6cm, Alp low -7°C, Strong to Extreme West wind, FZ Lvl: 1100m

Sun: 21cm, Alp high -5°C,, Strong SW wind gusting to 115km/hr, FZ Lvl: 1300m

Mon: Trace precip, Alp high -11°C,, Light SW wind gusting to 115km/hr, FZ Lvl: 500m

Tues: Cloudy with sunny periods, Alp Low -19°C, Moderate S wind, FZ Lvl: Valley Bottom

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.

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.

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.