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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 25th, 2014–Jan 26th, 2014

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.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Coastal.

Check out the latest blog post on deep persistent slab problems.

Confidence

Fair - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain

Weather Forecast

Overnight and Sunday: Mixture of sun and cloud with a chance of light flurries. Light Southwest winds overnight becoming moderate Northeast or Easterly in the evening. Continued warm air in the alpine with freezing levels at about 3000 metres.Monday: Mostly cloudy with Southerly winds and a chance of very light precipitation. Warm air in the alpine is expected to continue, with the freezing level dropping to about 2000 metres.Tuesday: Cloudy with light precipitation and light winds. Freezing level dropping during the day to about 1000 metres.

Avalanche Summary

Reports of moist and wet point releases from very steep terrain on solar exposed aspects. Glide cracks are reported to be opening up and "creeping" down slopes, with a couple of glide avalanches releasing up to size 1.5.

Snowpack Summary

The surface snow is likely undergoing a melt-freeze cycle on all but high elevation shady aspects, while the entire snowpack may even be trending isothermal at lower elevations. On shady aspects, over 20cm of recent storm snow (more on wind-loaded slopes) is settling and bonding well to the previous snow surface, which includes a crust up to treeline elevations. Well preserved surface hoar may be found buried in the upper snowpack on sheltered treeline slopes and below, and has been most active in the northern parts of the region between 900m and 1400m elevation. A well settled mid and lower snowpack may rest on basal facets, especially in thin snowpack areas at higher elevations.

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.

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.