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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 26th, 2024–Jan 27th, 2024

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

Regions

Purcells, East Purcell, Bull.

Deeply buried weak layers are expected to become active with rising freezing levels.

Choose conservative terrain free of overhead hazards.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

While there has been no slab avalanche activity recently, just west of this region where there is more new snow on the snowpack there have been several large (size 3) avalanches.

On Tuesday there were two skier-triggered deep persistent avalanches (size 1.5-2) west of Invermere in shallow areas. Both times there were tracks on the slope and the skier who triggered it was caught, buried, and recovered uninjured. (one partial burial, one full)

Snowpack Summary

Recent snow continues to settle and bond. This new snow is sitting atop old wind-affected snow and weak, sugary facets.

The mid-snowpack is generally made up of faceted snow and various old crusts.

At the base of the snowpack, weak faceted grains and depth hoar are present, particularly in alpine terrain.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy with a trace of snow, southwest alpine wind 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with no snow, southwest alpine wind 15 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.

Sunday

A mix of sun and clouds with a trace of snow, southwest alpine wind 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature 3 °C, freezing level 2500 m.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud with a trace of snow, southwest alpine wind 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature 2 °C, freezing level 3000m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
  • Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.

Problems

Deep Persistent Slabs

Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.