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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 20th, 2021–Mar 21st, 2021

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

Cariboos.

Strong winds and flurries are forming fresh wind slabs around ridges and lee features. Be mindful that best riding conditions may overlap with the deepest deposits and touchiest slabs.

Confidence

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the timing, track, & intensity of the incoming weather system.

Weather Forecast

SATURDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with isolated flurries and trace accumulation. Light to moderate southwest wind, alpine temperature low -10C, and freezing level dropping to valley bottom.

SUNDAY: Flurries accumulating through Sunday, 5-15 cm by days end. Moderate to strong southwest wind, alpine high -5C, and freezing level beginning near valley bottom rising to about 1200 m.

MONDAY: Cloudy with sunny breaks and isolated flurries, no snow expected. Light northwest wind, alpine high -6C, and freezing level beginning near valley bottom rising to about 1300 m.

TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy with flurries starting through the day. Moderate southwest wind, alpine high -5C, and freezing level beginning near valley bottom rising to about 1200 m.

Avalanche Summary

No new activity to report from Thursday or Friday.

New snow and strong winds through the weekend could build fresh wind slabs on leeward slopes and behind terrain features. These would likely be reactive to human triggering.

On Wednesday our North Rockies Field team reported a size 2.5 natural cornice failure in the McBride area. This cornice triggered an East facing alpine slope with the suspected weak layer being the deeper weak facets.

Several reports of large size 2.5-3 natural slab avalanches occurred last weekend, likely during the first big warm-up. The suspect failing layer of these avalanches is the mid-February facet interface, see some photos of this activity in this MIN.

These reports indicate that the buried persistent weak interface remains active. However, it would likely take a large load to trigger it. That being said the weight of a human and/or machine may be enough to trigger something deeper. It is a low probability - high consequence scenario with large N-E facing alpine slopes being the most suspect.

Snowpack Summary

Strong ridge top winds accompanied by flurries are forming fresh wind slabs below ridgetops. Dry snow can be found on north aspects and crusty snow surfaces exist on solar aspects. Large cornices loom over alpine ridges. They are very unpredictable and if they fail they could trigger a slab on the slope below.

A persistent weak layer made up of surface hoar at treeline elevations and a crust with facets in the alpine can be found down 50-150 cm in some parts of the region. Recent reports indicate that some very large avalanches have occurred on this layer in the past week. It seems to need a large trigger like a cornice fall or a rapid flux in weather like a big warm-up. 

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
  • Wind slabs are most reactive during their formation.
  • Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • Use caution on large alpine slopes, especially around thin areas that may propagate to deeper instabilities.

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.

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.