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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 19th, 2025–Feb 20th, 2025

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

Regions

South Rockies, Akamina, Bull, Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South, Elkford East, Elkford West.

The weather forecast is calling for a gradual warming trend for the next few days. Watch for a buried persistent weak layer to become reactive.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday there were reports of large (size 2) dry loose avalanches running in steep terrain. These were stepping down to a weak layer of facets buried in late January. Expect this layer of facets to become more reactive as the temperature gradually warms and snow above becomes more cohesive.

Snowpack Summary

Around 25 cm of new snow that fell over the weekend sits on 20 to 40 cm of mostly faceted snow. This all sits on a weak layer of surface hoar or facets buried in late January.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy. 25 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with scattered flurries. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.
  • Loose avalanches may step down to deeper layers, resulting in larger avalanches.
  • Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.

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.