Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Jan 26th, 2017 4:27PM

The alpine rating is low, the treeline rating is low, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

Avalanche Canada cgarritty, Avalanche Canada

Watch for daytime warming promoting instability in the coming days.

Summary

Confidence

High - The weather pattern is stable

Weather Forecast

Friday: Cloudy with sunny periods. Winds light to moderate from the southeast. Freezing level to 1300 metres with alpine temperatures of +1. Saturday: Cloudy with sunny periods. Winds moderate to strong from the south. Freezing level to 2400 metres with alpine temperatures of +6. Sunday: Mainly cloudy with scattered wet flurries and 5-10cm of new snow. Winds moderate to strong from the southwest. Freezing level to 2400 metres with alpine temperatures of +7.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been reported. Continued caution is recommended in lee terrain at higher elevations where pockets of wind slab may still prove reactive. Take extra care in steep terrain, where loose snow avalanches may present an unexpected hazard. Both problems can be expected to worsen with daytime warming.

Snowpack Summary

At lower elevations and on solar aspects, recent warm temperatures and solar radiation have created temperature and sun crusts on the snow surface. Including 10-15 cm of new snow received over Sunday evening, the storm snow that now forms our upper snowpack totals approximately 30-40 cm at treeline elevations and above. Aside from thin pockets of wind slab lingering in lee terrain at our highest elevations, instabilities within the storm snow have largely settled out and this snow's bond to the underlying surface is strong. The mid and lower snowpack are well settled and stable.

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs
Remain cautious of wind slabs at higher elevations. Steep, unsupported pockets in immediate lee terrain are the most likely to react to a human trigger.
Use caution around ledges and cliffs where small avalanches may have severe consequences.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Jan 27th, 2017 2:00PM

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