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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 18th, 2021–Apr 19th, 2021

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

Regions

Purcells.

The best and safest riding will be high north-facing terrain that is free from cornices overhead. Expect avalanche activity on sun-exposed slopes.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

A high pressure system brings clear skies and a diurnal melt-freeze cycle.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Clearing skies, 30-40 km/h northeast wind, freezing level drops to valley bottom with treeline temperatures dropping to -6 C.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny, light northeast wind, freezing level climbs to 1800 m with treeline temperatures reaching -1 C.

TUESDAY: Sunny, light wind, freezing level climbs to 2100 m with treeline temperatures reaching +1 C.

WEDNESDAY: Sunny, light west wind, freezing level climbs to 2400 m with treeline temperatures around +4 C.

Avalanche Summary

Multiple days of above freezing temperatures have resulted in widespread size 1-2 wet loose avalanches on sun-exposed slopes since last Thursday. There were also natural cornice failures over this period, some as big as size 3. There were no reports of slab avalanches triggered by warming. A skier triggered wind slab of size 2 was reported on a north-facing slope in the south of the region on Friday. The last report of a persistent slab avalanche was from March 8 in the Golden area where a cornice fall triggered a size 3 avalanche on an steep east-facing slope in the alpine.

With relatively cooler temperatures on Monday you can still expect wet loose avalanches and cornice falls, but they will be less widespread than they were over the weekend.

Snowpack Summary

A dusting of fresh snow can be expected above 1500 m, but surfaces will quickly transition to moist/wet snow during the heat of the day. Warm weather over the past week has melted surfaces everywhere except high north-facing terrain (above roughly 2300 m). While there have been no recent avalanches on buried weak layers, there are a few layers that could potentially be triggered with intense warming or a heavy cornice fall. This includes a 30-60 cm deep crust layer from mid-March and the early November crust near the bottom of the snowpack.

Terrain and Travel

  • Avoid slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if they have large cornices overhead.
  • Use extra caution around cornices: they are large, fragile, and can trigger slabs on slopes below.
  • Avoid lingering or regrouping in runout zones.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

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.