Avalanche forecast

South Columbia

Apr 4 – 5, 2017Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Cornice falls have been responsible for most of the avalanches reported in the past few days. Wind slabs or cornices may trigger persistent weak layers resulting in large avalanches.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3
    Southwest winds continue to transport snow into pockets of wind slab at higher elevations. Wind slabs are more likely to be found on shaded slopes in the alpine.

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2–3
    Cornices are large and may fall off naturally due to loading from new snow, wind, or daytime warming. Cornice falls in motion may release persistent weak layers resulting in large avalanches.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–4
    A cornice fall or smaller slab avalanche could trigger large, destructive avalanches on deeply buried weak layers. The likelihood of this happening will increase as solar warming weakens unstable cornices and storm slabs over the course of the day.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

Overnight: Overcast with moderate southwest winds and freezing down to 800 metres. Wednesday: Moderate southwest winds combined with 3-5 cm of new snow and daytime freezing up to 1700 metres. Thursday: Moderate southerly winds combined with 5-8 cm of new snow and daytime freezing up to 1800 metres. Friday: Overcast with moderate southerly winds and a few more cm of new snow. Daytime freezing up to 2000 metres.

Avalanche Summary

A natural cornice fall size 2.5 was reported on Tuesday near Revelstoke in the Monashees. Natural cornice and one persistent slab avalanche up to size 3.5 were reported from the Monashees on Monday. The persistent slab avalanche was triggered by a wind slab in steep terrain on a southwest aspect at 2400 metres. On Sunday natural cornice falls released up to size 2.5, and one pulled an unsupported slope resulting in a deep slab release. There were also several reports of skier controlled and accidentally triggered storm slabs up to size 1.0.

Snowpack Summary

10-30 cm of recent snow now overlies a crust below about 2100 metres (higher on solar aspects) and moist snow below about 1800 metres. Below the new snow interface, storms over the past week brought 40-60 cm of snow to the region. Several other crusts as well as moist snow are likely to exist within this storm snow, mainly at lower elevations and on solar aspects. Moderate to strong southwest winds during and since the storm formed wind slabs on leeward slopes as well as fragile cornices along ridgelines. 90-130 cm of accumulated snow now overlies a more widespread rain crust below 2000 m and sun crust on solar aspects at higher elevations. At higher elevations, the February weak layers are down 160 cm to over 2 metres and the deep mid-December facet layer and November rain crust both still linger near the bottom of the snowpack. These layers were active during a storm in mid-March and produced some very large avalanches. Occasional deep releases continue to be reported and these deeply buried weaknesses remain a serious concern as solar radiation and warming temperatures begin to penetrate the snowpack at increasingly higher elevations.

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