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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 25th, 2024–Feb 26th, 2024

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

North Columbia, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Selkirk, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Retallack, Whatshan.

Very dangerous avalanche conditions.

Buried weak layers are primed for riders to trigger. If triggered the avalanche will be deep and dangerous.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

A natural avalanche cycle is expected to be ongoing on Sunday.

Many rider-triggered storm slab and persistent slab avalanches were reported on Saturday, both small and large (size 2). These occurred on all aspects. Several were triggered remotely from a distance and failed on the early February crust/facet combo.

Snowpack Summary

30 to 50 cm of snow from the recent storm sits on top of many different layers: Weak sugary facets, a sun crust, and surface hoar in sheltered spots. This snow fell with a lot of wind, so expect wind loading in exposed areas.

50 to 80 cm deep you will find the thick crust from early February, which has weak, facets on top. It seems to extend up to around 2400 m.

Below the crust is generally settled and not a concern.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 25 to 45 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 15 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Tuesday

Partly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 15 to 25 cm of snow. 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Only the most simple non-avalanche terrain free of overhead hazard is appropriate at this time.
  • Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain, avalanches may run surprisingly far.

Problems

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.

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.