Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 15th, 2019–Mar 16th, 2019

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, human triggered possible.

Regions

Glacier.

After a long period of low hazard make sure you haven't become complacent in your terrain and group management practices. Minimize your exposure to steep paths where wind loading may cause naturals. Skier triggered avalanches are also expected today.

Weather Forecast

Flurries will taper off this morning and we expect sunny periods this afternoon. Moderate to strong SW winds will continue through the day, loading lee slopes. Over the weekend we will see a mix of sun and cloud. Sat freezing levels rise to 1700m, Sun to 1800m. Alpine temps should stay below freezing but expect the sun to have some punch.

Snowpack Summary

17cm of low density snow fell overnight at treeline. It overlies a soft storm slab in most areas, and on steep solar aspects (SE-W) a sun crust. The storm slab is up to 50cm deep and has been reactive to skier triggering. The storm slab sits on a sun crust on solar aspects; hard wind slab in exposed areas; and surface facets in sheltered locations.

Avalanche Summary

Yesterdays clouds reduced the natural avalanche activity, however there were several skier triggered avalanches up to size 2.5 in the Selkirk region. These avalanches were occurring from all aspects, generally at treeline and above. On Wed, a human-triggered size 1.5 avalanche on Glacier Crest took 2 people for a short ride on a W aspect at 2100m.

Confidence

Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain

Problems

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.

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.