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

Feb 21st, 2025–Feb 22nd, 2025

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 and human triggered avalanches likely.
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.

The storm slated to hit Rogers Pass will heavily load the persistent weak layers and a natural avalanche cycle is expected.

Human triggered avalanches are very likely. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A Natural avalanche cycle is expected on Saturday.

Frequent Flyer in Connaught Creek ran Monday afternoon, size 2, across the skin track, burying ~15-20m of the uptrack up to 50cm deep. Trigger was likely strong solar radiation at ~1pm.

Neighboring operations, particularly to the west, are still reporting rider & remote triggered avalanches on the Jan 30th layer.

Snowpack Summary

20cm (plus another 35cm by Saturday afternoon) sits on top of a sugary layer of facets in the upper snowpack.

A weak layer of surface hoar, facets and/or suncrust (Jan 30th) is 20-50cm down. This layer failed easily in snowpack tests at 1700m on the Smart paths. Watch out when this layer gets overloaded!

The mid & lower snowpack is well settled & strong.

Weather Summary

An active weather pattern is developing with a juicy storm on the horizon.

Tonight 6cm. Alpine low -5°C. Ridge winds SW gusting to 40km/hr

Sat 35cm. Alp high -3°C. Ridge wind SW 30-60km/h. Freezing level (FZL) 1500m.

Sun 15cms. Alp high -3°C. Ridge wind SW 25-80km/h. FZL rising to 1500m.

Mon Trace precip. Alp high -4°C. Ridge wind light from the SW. FZL 1600m.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Stick to non-avalanche terrain or small features with limited consequence.

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.