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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 9th, 2019–Apr 10th, 2019

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary.

Where the sun comes the surface snow will moisten quickly and increase the potential of loose wet avalanches.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

TUESDAY NIGHT: Mainly cloudy with flurries / moderate northerly wind / freezing level at 1500 mWEDNESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud with scattered flurries / light to moderate northwest wind / alpine high temperature -2 C / freezing level 1900 mTHURSDAY: Mainly cloudy / 5 cm accumulation overnight / light southwest wind / alpine high temperature -5 C / freezing level 1700 mFRIDAY: Mix of sun and cloud / trace of snow / light north wind / alpine high temperature -4 C / freezing level 1900 m

Avalanche Summary

On Monday, only a few human triggered loose wet avalanches to size 1 were reported.On Sunday, there were reports of numerous natural, human and explosive triggered storm slab avalanches up to size 2.5 at treeline and in the alpine on all aspects (see this MIN report).On Saturday, explosives triggered small (size 1-1.5) storm slab avalanches up to 30 cm deep. Skier traffic triggered small pockets of storm snow with the deepest (up to 40 cm) and most reactive deposits in specific lee terrain.

Snowpack Summary

10-35 cm of recent storm snow that fell over the weekend sits on a melt-freeze crust on most aspects and is bonding well with the underlying layer. On north facing slopes above 2000 m, where the recent new snow sits on dry snow and surface hoar (feathery crystals) it is not bonding as well and might be sensitive to triggering. Recent snowfall amounts taper quickly below treeline.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.