Avalanche forecast

Northwest Inland

Jan 19 – 20, 2013Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–4
    Strong to extreme westerly winds have created windslabs on lee terrain. With higher than normal wind values, watch for loading lower on the slope and in other unsuspecting locations.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–4
    A layer of surface hoar buried at the end of December may still be reactive. Watch for triggering in sheltered, unsupported terrain.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–5
    A deeply buried facet/crust weakness exists near the base of the snowpack. This layer could be triggered by large loads such as a cornice collapse or from a thin-spot trigger point.

Confidence

Fair - Due to limited field observations

Weather Forecast

The stationary ridge of high pressure is expected to bring continued dry conditions to the region until Tuesday at which point the ridge moves east allowing light snowfall to affect westerly slopes. Alpine temperatures are forecast to be about 0.0` for Sunday and Monday, and then dropping on Tuesday. Winds should remain light to moderate from the southwest.

Avalanche Summary

A size 2 windslab avalanche was remotely triggered by a skier on Friday in the north of the region. It was triggered from 20m away on an east aspect at 1550m and ran 150m

Snowpack Summary

A melt freeze crust most likely exists on lower elevation slopes that were previously rain-soaked. Light to locally moderate amounts of recent snow and strong to extreme winds at higher elevations have formed hard windslabs in the lee of terrain breaks and ridges.A surface hoar layer that was buried at the end of December is now down 60-80 cm, and was reactive in some areas with recent warming but is most likely gaining strength.An otherwise strong mid-pack overlies a weak base layer of facets/depth hoar and the remnants of a crust.

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