Avalanche forecast

Northwest Inland

Feb 25 – 26, 2012Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
3 · Considerable
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Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1–5
    Increasing winds and new snow through have formed wind slabs on lee slopes and terrain features. Expect to see more widespread loading due to changing winds.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1–5
    The mild temperatures has consolidated the new snow into a storm slab over the persistent weaknesses.

Confidence

Good

Weather Forecast

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with easing northerly winds and temperatures reaching -8. Monday & Tuesday: Expect clear weather to give way to increasing clouds with flurries beginning Tuesday. Winds could be strong southwesterly, but will ease with the cloud growth. Temperatures reaching -7 in the afternoons.

Avalanche Summary

Natural avalanches up to size 2.0 and ridder triggered up to 1.5 have been observed.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 15cm of new snow fell in the most recent storm pulse. This adds to the previous storm snow, with 45 cm being an average amount over the mid February layers. These layers are a strong melt freeze crust at lower elevations and wind effected snow higher in the alpine while between these elevations, the interface varies wildly from facets, surface hoar, sun crust or wind press. The surface hoar is not widespread but is responsible for much of the recent avalanche activity. With the additional wind loading, pockets as deep as 60cm are possible on lee features.

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