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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 12th, 2025–Jan 13th, 2025

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

Regions

Purcells, Dogtooth, East Purcell, West Purcell.

Steep open slopes are the most dangerous, as wind slabs may be slow to bond.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Two notable avalanches occurred in the Dogtooth Range on Saturday:

  • A skier was caught in a size 2.5 wind slab avalanche that propagated widely across a northeast-facing slope. It ran on a 5 to 40 cm deep surface hoar layer. See this MIN report for details.

  • A group of skiers remotely triggered a size 2.5 persistent slab avalanche on a large southwest-facing alpine slope.

Many smaller (size 1 to 1.5) wind slab avalanches were also reported across the Purcells.

Snowpack Summary

Surface hoar and sun crusts are developing on the surface. Recent snow (10 to 30 cm) sits on a variety of interfaces including surface hoar in sheltered areas and sun crusts on solar slopes. Deeper wind-loaded pockets also exist above these layers.

A weak layer of facets buried in early December is on average 60 to 90 cm deep (except closer to 30 cm in the shallower eastern parts of the Purcells). This layer continues to cause occasional large avalanches in the Golden and Invermere areas.

The snowpack base consists of a thick crust and facets in many areas.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Monday

Sunny. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly sunny. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Wednesday

Mix of sun and cloud. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Use conservative route selection and resist venturing into complex terrain.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.