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

Mar 27th, 2024–Mar 28th, 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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Blue River, Premier, Clemina, Esplanade, North Monashee, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat.

Assess for the bond of the new snow, as newly formed slabs could become touchy to riders. Treat the hazard as Considerable if you find more than 20 cm of new snow in your local riding area.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Riders triggered a few small wind slabs and sluffs in steep terrain on Tuesday.

The latest persistent slab avalanches occurred late last week in alpine terrain on all aspects during daytime warming and from cornice falls. The likelihood of similar persistent slab activity is decreased at this time. Human triggering is most likely in thin, rocky alpine areas where the layer is close to the snow surface and there isn't a thick near-surface melt-freeze crust.

Snowpack Summary

Around 10 to 30 cm of snow is forecast to accumulate by Thursday afternoon, with the most forecast for Blue River area. On northerly alpine terrain the new snow will load surface hoar crystals that overly soft or wind affect snow. Elsewhere, the snow will build over a hard melt-freeze crust.

A widespread crust that formed in early February is buried anywhere from 80 to 150 cm deep. This crust has a weak layer of faceted grains above it that are slowly strengthening.

The remainder of the snowpack is settled.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Saturday

Partly cloudy. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.

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.