Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Jan 25th, 2020 4:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs and Deep Persistent Slabs.
mkoppang,
Avalanche Canada
Warm temps are promoting new windslab development in alpine areas and with stronger winds forecast on Sunday, we can expect these slabs to grow and become stiffer and more reactive. Pay close attention to freezing levels, stability will decrease on solar aspects of the sun comes
Summary
Confidence
Weather Forecast
The freezing level will begin dropping tonight as we have overnight lows of around -12C forecast for the region. Light snow will fall tomorrow along the divide but overall accumulations are not expected to be significant. Sunday will be pretty much a carbon copy of Saturday with daytime highs around -4C. The biggest difference is winds are forecast to increase mid morning sunday with it returning to moderate to strong out of the SW.
Avalanche Summary
Nothing new today but observations were limited.
Snowpack Summary
10-13cm over the past 24hrs. A thin temperature crust was being found on solar aspects below 2000m early this morning. Easy sheers were being noted in the new windslabs that formed friday in open areas down 20-30cm and the dec 31st SH/FC layer continues to produce moderate- hard sudden planar sheers down 40-50cm below 2300m. Any avalanche in the upper snowpack will likely step down the the weak basal layers and be big. Be thinking about consequences. If the sun comes out, watch for stability to decrease especially on solar aspects.
Terrain and Travel
- Seek out wind sheltered terrain below treeline where you can avoid wind slabs and find great riding.
- Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of a deep persistent slab.
- Avoid slopes that sound hollow or drum-like.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Cooler temps are helping to make the recent windslabs less reactive but any steep or unsupported feature should be treated with an abundance of caution.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Deep Persistent Slabs
These are still on the radar. It's worth digging or probing to inspect it. Large triggers are also worth considering, if the bottom layer is disturbed it will be a very big avalanche.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Jan 26th, 2020 4:00PM
