Avalanche forecast

Northwest Inland

Dec 8 – 9, 2012Avalanche Canada
View on map
Archived · expired 14 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
Open full map

Highlights

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–4
    New snow and strong west and northwesterly winds have created windslabs in the lee of terrain features. Strong winds often create slabs that extend further down the slope than expected and in open areas below treeline.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–6
    Deeply buried facet/crust weaknesses are often prone to remote triggering and step down avalanches. Typical trigger points include thin rocky areas. They may be difficult to trigger, but deep persistent slab avalanches are often very large.

Confidence

Poor - Due to limited field observations for the entire period

Weather Forecast

Sunday: Light to moderate precipitation throughout the day with strong gusting to extreme northwesterly winds. Alpine temperatures -4 degrees. Monday: Moderate precipitation with strong southwesterly winds. Freezing levels expected at 700m with alpine temperatures -4 degrees.Tuesday: Light precipitation, temperatures cooling to -9 in the alpine. Winds southwesterly moderate to strong.

Avalanche Summary

There is no new avalanche activity to report at this time. 

Snowpack Summary

Wind slab instabilities exist in the upper snowpack at treeline and in the alpine. Treeline snow depths range between 90-125 cm. Snow depths in the alpine are highly variable with deep wind drifts and heavily scoured slopes in exposed areas. A layer of small surface hoar crystals exists at tree-line in isolated sheltered areas. This is most likely buried down 15-20 cm under recent storm snow. A weak layer of facets sitting on a crust exists near the base of the snowpack down 80-130 cm. Test results on this layer earlier this week produced hard, sudden results.

Regions covered