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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 3rd, 2018–Feb 4th, 2018

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Glacier.

Strong winds and heavy snowfall overnight will mean a spike in avalanche activity today. Expect to find touchy storm slabs and naturals reaching the bottom of runouts

Weather Forecast

Today there will be a brief lull between storms. We'll have a mostly cloudy day with some sunny breaks. Ridge winds will be from the West at 25 km/hr, gusting to 75!! and freezing levels climbing to 1400m. The next shot of precip looks to arrive Sunday, bringing another 10-15cm.

Snowpack Summary

25cm of new snow overnight brings our weekly total to over 1 meter. Strong South winds will have created a reactive windslab in the alpine. A meter and a half of settling snow sits over the Jan 16th surface hoar layer. This is the uppermost PWL and is still distinct and easy to pick out on pit walls.

Avalanche Summary

Rapid loading from heavy snowfall yesterday triggered a natural avalanche cycle to size 3.0, these were running well into runouts. Field teams observed a touchy 15 cm storm slab at treeline & below aswell.An Avalanche Canada MIN report has an excellent description and photos of a large avalanche that occurred in Loop Brook during the 18-01-29.

Confidence

Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

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.