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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 26th, 2024–Jan 27th, 2024

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 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.

Regions

Glacier.

Avalanche hazard may rise quickly with warming temps and increased wind.

Be prepared to dial back your objective quickly if there are obvious signs of wind transport at ridgetop, or if the forecast freezing levels (1600m) are exceeded.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Avalanche control just West of the park produced a size 3 storm slab avalanche in a large Southerly feature on Friday.

We observed isolated naturals in the highway corridor over last few days, triggered by southerly winds at upper elevations, and high freezing levels in valley bottom avalanche paths.

Riders have been triggering isolated small slabs this week in the moistening snow on steep features below treeline. These were failing down 30-40 cm on the Jan 3 crust.

Snowpack Summary

Warm temperatures and wind effect at upper elevations, has created a soft storm slab. This overlies variable wind effect in open terrain, and faceted snow in sheltered areas.

A sun crust (Jan 3), down 50cm and most prominent at and below Tree-line on S-SW aspects, has been a failure plane for a few recent human triggered avalanches.

The Dec 1 surface hoar layer is down ~110cm and is decomposing.

Weather Summary

2 frontal systems impacting the interior Friday night and then Sunday morning will bring warm temps, moderate snowfall and SW wind.

Tonight: Flurries (5cm), Alpine low -6°C. Light SW ridgetop winds.

Sat: Flurries (2-4cm). High -1°C, Moderate SW winds, Freezing level (FZL)1600m.

Sun: Snow (up to 20cm). Low -2°C, High 0°C. Moderate to strong SW winds, FZL 1900m

Mon: Isolated flurries. Low -1°C, High 2°C. FZL 2700m.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.

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.

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.