Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 7th, 2024–Mar 8th, 2024

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

Regions

Purcells, Dogtooth, East Purcell.

Triggering large avalanches is a serious concern as illustrated in this PHOTO BLOG.

Stick to low-angle slopes, avoid overhead hazards, and choose smaller objectives.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Large and very large natural and explosive-triggered persistent slab avalanches have been reported daily over the past week (size 2 to 3.5). There have been fewer reports of human-triggered avalanches in the past few days, but all signs suggest they are still likely if travelling near steeper terrain (remote-triggered avalanches have been frequent).

The photos below show the type of terrain and typical size for these avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

Surface conditions currently include sun crusts, lightly wind-affected snow, and settling powder.

A widespread crust that formed in early February is roughly 80 to 120 cm deep. Weak faceted crystals and surface hoar above this crust are contributing to large avalanches across the province.

Additionally, the lower snowpack is mostly comprised of weak and faceted layers.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Clear skies. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Friday

Mostly sunny. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Saturday

Mix of sun and cloudy with 1 to 2 cm of snow. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with 1 to 4 cm of snow. 25 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

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.
  • Avoid being on or under sun exposed slopes.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
  • Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to the presence of deeply buried weak layers.

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.