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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 16th, 2021–Dec 17th, 2021

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

Regions

Glacier.

Cool alpine temperatures and short days call for early starts and extra warm layers.

Weather Forecast

A ridge of high pressure on Friday will give way to a weekend frontal system bringing snow to our region.

Tonight: Clear with cloudy periods, Alp temp -19*C, light NW winds

Fri: Mix of sun and cloud, Alp high -12*C, light SW winds

Sat: Periods of snow, 18cm, Alp high -12*C, mod SW winds

Snowpack Summary

Cooling temperatures will facet the new snow from the start of the week and break down wind slabs. Lingering wind slabs created by weekend extreme S'ly winds exist in exposed, Alpine and Tree-line features. These will be buried by ~15cm of loose dry snow. The Dec 1 crust is ~10cm thick at 1900m, buried by ~1m and found up to 2300m

Avalanche Summary

No new natural avalanches were observed along the highway corridor on Thursday, visibility was limited.

On Wednesday, 5 artillery rounds produced 1, size 2 avalanche from a steep, N facing start zone off Mt. Macdonald.

A MIN report on Tuesday described a wind slab in the alpine on lee features reacting to a skier load.

Confidence

Due to the number of field observations

Problems

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.

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.