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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 15th, 2025–Feb 16th, 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.

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Jordan, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Kokanee, Retallack, Valhalla, Whatshan.

Flurries will increase the load on weak layers in the snowpack. Avalanches remain possible where loose snow consolidates into a cohesive slab.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Over the last week, several small skier-triggered avalanches (size 1 to 1.5) have been reported across the region. These avalanches mostly occurred on weak layers of facets and/or sun crusts roughly 20 to 40 cm below the surface.

On Wednesday a size 2.5 avalanche was remotely triggered by a helicopter landing at ridgetop. The avalanche started in a steep shallow start zone on an east aspect around the treeline, failing on a weak layer roughly 100 cm below the surface.

Snowpack Summary

Ongoing cold, clear, and dry conditions have largely preserved soft surface conditions, while variable wind-affected surfaces are present in exposed terrain at treeline and above.

Various layers buried at the end of January are now approximately 20 to 50 cm below the surface. These include sun crusts on sun-exposed slopes, surface hoar in shaded terrain at treeline and below, and weak faceted grains elsewhere.

Beneath these buried layers, the snowpack remains weak and faceted due to the prolonged dry conditions throughout January.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and strong.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace to 5 cm snow. 10 to 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy with scattered flurries, up to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatrure -12 °C.

Monday

Cloudy with isolated flurries, 5 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatrure -10 °C.

Tuesday

Sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
  • Be alert to conditions that change with elevation and sun exposure.
  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
  • Be aware of the potential for loose avalanches in steep terrain where snow hasn't formed a slab.

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.