Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Mar 4th, 2015 7:56AM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Wind Slabs.
ccampbell,
Avalanche Canada
Variable winds and recent convective flurries have created fresh wind slabs in exposed areas.
Summary
Confidence
Good
Weather Forecast
Mainly sunny for Thursday then cloudy with sunny periods on Friday and Saturday, with isolated light flurries possible in the northern part of the region. Freezing as high as 1600 m on Thursday then up to 2100 m for Friday and Saturday, but down to valley bottoms overnight. Light southwesterly winds are expected for Thursday before increasing to moderate westerlies on Friday.
Avalanche Summary
Reports from Tuesday include several dry loose sluffs in steep terrain and thin soft wind slabs reacting to slope cuts with minimal propagation.
Snowpack Summary
Roughly 5-10 cm of recent storm snow adds to the variable amounts of dry facetted snow on top of the mid-February crust with associated buried surface hoar in sheltered areas, or more recent melt-freeze crusts on sun-exposed slopes. The late-Jan crust/surface hoar layer can be found about a metre below the surface in deeper snowpack areas. The mid-January surface hoar, can be found below that. These layers have gained significant strength, and chances of triggering these weaknesses have decreased dramatically. However, triggering may be possible with a large input such as cornice fall, or an avalanche stepping down, especially on slopes that see a lot of sun.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Fresh weak wind slabs may be lurking in unusual places. Although not expected to be large, they could take you for a ride.
Avoid exposure to terrain traps where the consequences of a small avalanche could be serious.>Avoid travelling in areas that have been reverse loaded by winds.>Be cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.>
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Mar 5th, 2015 2:00PM
