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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 20th, 2024–Mar 21st, 2024

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

South Okanagan, Shuswap, North Okanagan.

While conditions are gradually improving with cooling temperatures, very large persistent slab avalanches may remain triggerable in areas not capped by a thick surface crust.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new reports of avalanches but data is limited in this region. If you go out in the mountains, please consider posting your observations on the Mountain Information Network!

Snowpack Summary

A skiff of new snow sits over predominantly crusty surfaces. Lower elevations may remain moist.

A widespread, hard crust down 40 - 130 cm with weak facets above continues to be the primary layer of concern for human triggering of very large persistent slab avalanches.

Weather Summary

Wednesday night

Cloudy with isolated flurries bringing up to 7 cm. 20 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Thursday

Mostly sunny. 20 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Friday

Increasing cloud. 10 to 20 km/h variable ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1700 m.

Saturday

Cloudy with isolated flurries, 2 to 4 cm. 10 to 20 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.

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.

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.