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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 8th, 2025–Mar 9th, 2025

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

Regions

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

Avoid all avalanche terrain.

Buried weak layers combined with a lot of new snow mean avalanche conditions are very dangerous.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Large natural and human-triggered avalanches are expected on Sunday. Both storm slabs and persistent slabs.

Persistent slab avalanches continue to occur every couple of days on the January and February weak layers. With new load, more avalanches are expected on these layers.

Snowpack Summary

Anywhere from 20 to 60 cm of new snow is expected by the end of the day Sunday.

A 3 to 5 cm thick melt-freeze crust, buried 10 to 15 cm deep, is present on all aspects except north-facing slopes above 2000 m. Surface hoar has been noted on this crust.

A weak layer, composed of facets, surface hoar, or a crust, is found 30 to 70 cm deep from mid-February. Another persistent weak layer, buried in late January, lies 60 to 120 cm deep. This layer is surface hoar, facets, or a crust, depending on the aspect.

The remaining snowpack is well-settled and strong.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 30 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with 10 to 25 cm of snow. 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Monday

Cloudy then clearing with 10 to 30 cm of snow ending in the morning. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy snowfall.
  • Avoid the runout zones of avalanche paths. Avalanches could run full path.
  • Only the most simple non-avalanche terrain with no overhead hazard is appropriate at this time.

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.