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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 12th, 2024–Mar 13th, 2024

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

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Retallack, Whatshan.

Natural avalanche activity could spike on slopes facing the sunRider and remote triggering of large avalanches are an ongoing concern. Choose conservative, low consequence terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

The region saw lots of avalanche activity on Monday. Very large natural persistent slab avalanches and numerous human-triggered continue to be reported up to size 3. There were also many size 1-2 natural and human-triggered storm and wind slabs failing in the upper snowpack. Most were reported from 1800 m and above, but all aspects showed reactivity.

Ongoing natural, rider and remotely triggered avalanches persist on this layer. Avoid solar slopes when the sun is out.

Snowpack Summary

Tuesday morning saw 10-20 cm of new snow, bringing recent storm snow totals 40 to 60 cm across the region. The new snow sits on sun crusts and wind-affected snow from previous strong southwest winds. Below this, two layers of surface hoar and sun crust can be found in the top meter of the snowpack. One from late February and the other from early March.

A thick and hard widespread crust formed in early February is buried about 80 to 150 cm deep. This crust has a layer of facets above it in many areas and has been reactive to human triggering.

The snowpack below this crust is generally not concerning except in shallow alpine terrain.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of new snow. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7°C. Freezing levels valley bottom.

Wednesday

Mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near -5°C. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.

Thursday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near -1°C. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.

Friday

Sunny. 15 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near 0°C. Freezing level rising to 2500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Conservative terrain selection is critical, choose only well supported, low consequence lines.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
  • Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeply buried weak layers resulting in very large avalanches.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.

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.

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.

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.