Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 10th, 2012–Jan 11th, 2012

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

Kootenay Boundary.

Confidence

Good - -1

Weather Forecast

Mostly clear and dry for the forecast period. Although warmer on Thursday and Friday, freezing levels are expected to remain in or near valley bottoms. Winds are expected to be light but gusty northwesterlies.

Avalanche Summary

Generally limited new avalanche activity reported except for isolated natural cornice triggered wind slab and loose snow avalanches up to Size 2 in steep alpine terrain. Low density surface snow is sluffing readily.

Snowpack Summary

Warm temperatures and light precipitation settled the 20-40cm of recent storm snow and created upside down slabs and/or thin surface crust on Monday. Since then, light amounts dry snow is maintaining the snow supply for wind slab development, but cold temperatures are likely starting to improve storm slab stability. A thin melt/freeze crust can be found in the upper snowpack as high as 1900m. The late-December interface is now down 40-50cm and producing moderate to hard resistant snowpack test results. While the mid-December surface hoar/facet persistent weakness, down 65cm, is still producing moderate to hard but sudden results. Basal facets remain concern in shallow snowpack areas especially with heavy triggers in thin spots, and weaknesses above create the potential for step-down avalanches.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.