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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 4th, 2019–Dec 5th, 2019

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Sea To Sky.

Choose mellower terrain if you experience signs of instability such as whumpfs or shooting cracks.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy, light wind, alpine temperatures drop to -8 C.

THURSDAY: Clear in the morning then increasing cloud in the afternoon and light flurries starting in the evening, 30 km/h wind from the southwest, alpine high temperatures around -3 C.

FRIDAY: 10-25 cm of snow, 40-60 km/h wind from the southwest, freezing level climbs to 1600 m, alpine high temperatures around -1 C.

SATURDAY: 15-30 cm of snow then clearing in the afternoon, 30-50 km/h wind from the southwest, freezing level around 1200 m.

Avalanche Summary

A few small (size 1) storm slab avalanches were triggered by skiers and explosives on Wednesday. They were 20-30 cm thick and ran on a hard crust. Small storm slab and wind slab avalanche will continue to be a concern on Thursday, then the arrival of more snow on Friday could produce larger avalanches that run on the recently buried crust.

Snowpack Summary

A return to stormy weather is bringing much needed snow to the Sea to Sky region. 10-30 cm of recent snow is settling at higher elevations, with deeper deposits in wind affected terrain. This new snow has buried a widespread crust layer that could become a problematic sliding surface for avalanches during the next storm.

Typical snowpack depths in the alpine currently range between 50 and 150 cm, depending on the amount of wind affect. Snowpack depths taper quickly with elevation as most treeline terrain is still below the threshold for avalanches.

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.