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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 13th, 2014–Jan 14th, 2014

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
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, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Kootenay Boundary.

Confidence

Fair - Freezing levels are uncertain

Weather Forecast

Overnight and Tuesday: Very strong Northwest winds overnight becoming moderate to strong during the day. Freezing level climbing above 2000 metres in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy.Wednesday: No precipitation forecast. Winds becoming very strong Northwest with broken skies and freezing levels at about 1800 metres.Thursday: Mostly sunny with above freezing temperatures in the alpine and moderate Northwest winds.

Avalanche Summary

There were several natural avalanches up to size 2.0 reported from Southeast thru Southwest aspects. Highway avalanche control produced slides up to size 2.5 on the same aspects.

Snowpack Summary

10-20 cm of new snow in the past 24 hours has added to the storm slab. There is now about 50-80 cm above the January 8th layer of buried surface hoar and/or melt-freeze crust. Snow profile tests on the buried surface hoar layer have shown moderate sudden planar results. Deeper in the snowpack is a weak layer of surface hoar from the end of November, and in some areas depth hoar or basal facets near the ground. There is a great deal of variation across this region.

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.