Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Jan 22nd, 2014 8:43AM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is low, and the below treeline rating is low.

Avalanche Canada jfloyer, Avalanche Canada

Summary

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

A high pressure ridge is once again set to bring dry conditions with warm alpine temperatures.Thursday: Dry. Alpine temperatures initially cool, around -5C, but rising late in the afternoon. Ridgetop winds light, up to 15 km/h from the NW. Friday and Saturday: The inversion is fully in place, with a strong above freezing layer from around 2200 to 3300m. Expect some Valley cloud, that may actually be quite high, and strong alpine sunshine. Alpine temperatures could reach as high as +4C and will feel higher still in the sunshine. Ridgetop winds 10-20 km/h from the NW.

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanches reported.

Snowpack Summary

The recent dry, warm weather has generally consolidated the upper snowpack. Old, stubborn hard wind slabs may exist under a skiff of new snow. Steep, sun exposed features are most likely seeing a daily melt-freeze cycle.A basal facet/crust combo (weak sugary snow above and below a crust) near the ground is still a concern in some areas. The depth of this layer makes triggering an avalanche on it unlikely (maybe a heavy load on a thin spot in steep terrain, rapid temperature change, or cornice fall), but the consequences would be large and very destructive.

Valid until: Jan 23rd, 2014 2:00PM

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