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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 9th, 2022–Dec 10th, 2022

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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Purcells, Esplanade, Dogtooth, East Purcell.

Avoid features where the wind has deposited larger amounts of snow.

Use the terrain to access the best and safest riding.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

As of this writing, there were no new natural avalanches reported. Suspect that may in part be due to limited visibility and a lack of observations.

Snowpack Summary

Between 3 to 10 cm fell across the region over the last 24 hours. Southwest winds reaching values that are strong enough to transport snow also occurred during this time period. New snow and new wind slabs are sitting on older wind slabs that were created from strong westerly winds that occurred earlier in the week.

A buried layer of surface hoar sits 15 - 30 cm deep and remains a layer of concern, especially once a stiffer slab becomes established above it.

Generally speaking, we have a thin snowpack that has experienced a period of prolonged cold temperatures. The combination of the two has created a weakened snowpack by promoting faceting as a whole.

The overall height of snow is highly variable throughout the region with around 40 to 140 cm in the alpine.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, trace accumulation, wind south 20 km/h, freezing level to the valley bottom.

Saturday

Mainly cloudy, 4 cm accumulation, winds southeast 15 to 25 km/h, freezing level to 900 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with sunny periods, 2 cm accumulation, winds southeast 15 km/h, freezing level to 500 m.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud, trace accumulation, winds northeast 10 km/h, freezing level to the valley bottom.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
  • In times of uncertainty conservative terrain choices are our best defense.

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.