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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 12th, 2025–Mar 13th, 2025

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

North Rockies, McBride, Sugarbowl, East Kakwa, Kakwa, McGregor, Pine Pass, Renshaw, Robson, Tumbler.

Recent storm snow may take a bit more time to stabilize. Be particularly wary if your local area has more than 20 cm of new snow.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Tuesday saw a few small to large (size 1 to 2) wind slab avalanches out of steep alpine terrain. Otherwise, there was evidence of similar avalanche activity from the weekend's storm.

Snowpack Summary

New snow with strong easterly wind is forecast for Wednesday night. The snow will build on the 30 to 60 cm of accumulated snow since Saturday. All this snow overlies a hard melt-freeze crust and perhaps isolated surface hoar crystals in wind-sheltered treeline terrain. The snow may be deeper and touchier in wind-exposed lee features.

A weak layer of surface hoar and/or faceted grains buried mid-February is around 50 to 100 cm deep, but is showing signs of strengthening.

The lower snowpack is well-settled.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow and local amounts of up to 20 cm possible. 20 to 40 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -14 °C.

Friday

Mostly sunny. 10 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.

Saturday

Mix of sun and cloud. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
  • Recent wind has varied in direction, so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, or recent avalanches.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.