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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 24th, 2018–Dec 25th, 2018

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, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

South Columbia.

The persistent slab problem is best managed with patience and conservative terrain choices. Read more in the new forecaster blog here.

Confidence

High - The weather pattern is stable

Weather Forecast

MONDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with clear periods, light wind, alpine temperature drop to -10 C.TUESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light wind, alpine high temperatures around -10 C.WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy, light wind, alpine high temperatures around -10 C.THURSDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light wind with moderate gusts from the northwest, alpine high temperatures around -10 C.

Avalanche Summary

The most recent 10-30 cm of low density snow was reactive to skiers on steep and convex features on Sunday. Otherwise, natural and human triggered activity has started to tapered off.However, as recent as last Friday, large (size 2-3) persistent slab avalanches were occurring naturally. There have also been a few notable persistent slab avalanches remotely triggered from skiers on adjacent slopes. Most recently, last Wednesday a few large (size 2-2.5) avalanches on north-facing slopes were remotely triggered by skiers in the Selkirks.

Snowpack Summary

10-20 cm of low density snow sits above wind slabs in the alpine, and in some isolated areas above small surface hoar (feathery crystals).A weak layer that formed during the dry spell in early December is now 50-100 cm deep. The layer is composed of weak facets, surface hoar, and a sun crust on steep south-facing slopes. This layer has been responsible for large persistent slab avalanches over the past two weeks, particularly on north and east facing slopes between 1900-2300 m and on steep south-facing slopes in the alpine.The lower snowpack is generally strong and settled, with a crust that formed in late October near the bottom of the snowpack.

Problems

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.