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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 6th, 2024–Mar 7th, 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

Lizard-Flathead, South Rockies, Akamina, Flathead, Lizard, Bull, Crowsnest North, Crowsnest South, Elkford East, Elkford West.

⚠️Dangerous avalanche conditions⚠️

Stick to low-angle terrain and be mindful of overhead hazard. Human-triggered and remote-triggered avalanches remain a serious concern.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Numerous large to very large slab avalanches were triggered naturally and by explosives in the Lizard Range over the past few days (size 2 to 3.5). Smaller storm slabs were reported in the Alberta Rockies (size 1 to 2). Avalanches are failing in both storm snow layers and on a deeply buried persistent weak layer of crust/facets.

Human-triggering remains a serious concern in alpine and treeline terrain.

Snowpack Summary

The upper snowpack has 20 to 40 cm of settling storm snow, with a potential sun crust forming on steep sun-exposed slopes. A widespread crust is buried 80 to 160 cm deep, and weak facets above this crust have been producing large avalanches throughout the Rockies. The snow below the crust is mostly strong and bonded.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Clear skies. 15 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C.

Thursday

Sunny. 25 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Friday

Mostly sunny. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Saturday

Mix of sun and cloud. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °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 areas with overhead hazard.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.

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.

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.