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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 19th, 2015–Apr 20th, 2015

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

Regions

Glacier.

Increasing hazard as the day progresses with the solar radiation. Strong daytime warming will make triggering instabilities in the snowpack more likely. Limit your groups exposure to the overhead cornice hazard.

Weather Forecast

High pressure ridge over the the Province will keep the skies clear for today and tomorrow. Freezing levels are forecast to rise to ~2400m, dropping tonight and then rising to 2700m for tomorrow. Alpine winds are forecast to remain light from the west. No precipitation is expected until Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

Overnight refreeze created a surface crust over moist or wet snow. The snowpack on solar aspects is mostly moist and composed of multiple crusts. This will differ on sheltered north aspects in the alpine where dry snow can still be found. Weak layers still exist in the upper snowpack on crusts or surface hoar on north aspects higher up.

Avalanche Summary

Yesterday, backcountry report of a small cornice triggering an avalanche on Bruins Ridge, size 2.5, E aspect, 100m wide, 30cm deep, 250m long which ran into Hospital Bowl. Reports of lots of whumphing in Connaught. Several avalanches to size 2.0 in the highway corridor. Size 2.0 glide crack avalanche in the highway corridor on Mt Tupper 2 days ago.

Confidence

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.