Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 21st, 2024–Jan 22nd, 2024

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

Glacier.

Allow the recent snow time to settle and bond before exposing yourself to larger, high consequence terrain features.

Continue to re-evaluate conditions as you gain elevation and transition into open terrain.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Over the past week there have been several human triggered avalanches up to size 2, all on sun affected aspects failing on the sun crust buried in early January.

On Saturday a few small natural avalanches were observed from the steep terrain on Mt. Macdonald.

Snowpack Summary

30cms of recent storm snow overlies variable wind slabs/wind effect in open terrain, and settling facetted snow in sheltered areas below tree-line.

A sun crust, down 50cm (most prominent at tree-line) has been the failure plane for recent human triggered avalanches.

Below 2100m there is decomposing crust down 75cm (from Dec 5th/6th).

The Dec 1 surface hoar layer is down 110cm and is decomposing.

Weather Summary

Flurries and mild temperatures set the trend for this week with a fairly active flow but no significant snowfall or wind.

Mon: Flurries - 7cm, high -2°C, light S winds, freezing level (FZL) 1900m.

Tues: Flurries - 5cm, high -4°C, low -6°C, moderate SW winds, FZL 1500m.

Wed: Isolated flurries - trace of new snow, high -6°C, low -9°C, light SW winds, FZL 1200m.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Caution around convexities or sharp changes in terrain.
  • Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.

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.