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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 16th, 2019–Dec 17th, 2019

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

Regions

Kootenay Boundary.

Two persistent weak layers are at play in the region - but neither of them are giving consistent feedback. A tricky situation! Avoid overthinking the problem and instead seek out lower angle terrain while maintaining diligent travel practices.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

MONDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace to 5 cm of new snow. Moderate southwest winds.

TUESDAY: A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Strong southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -6

WEDNESDAY: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate south winds. Alpine high temperatures around -6.

THURSDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow, increasing overnight. Light to moderate southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5.

Avalanche Summary

There were reports of a size 1 human triggered avalanche, and natural size 2 avalanche on Saturday that released on the persistent weak layer that is down about 50-60 cm

There were a few reports of explosives triggered storm slab avalanches up to size 2 on Friday.

There were a few human and explosives triggered storm slab avalanches size 1-2 reported on Thursday.

Check out this MIN report of an avalanche in the Big White backcountry on Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

15-30 cm of recent snow sits on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar in many sheltered areas, and on a crust on steep south facing slopes. This layer may be reactive to human triggers, especially where wind loading has formed a deeper slab above it.

There is also a persistent weak layer down approximately 60-100 cm that mainly consists of a crust with sugary faceted snow on top of it. This layer is more likely to be reactive to human triggers in shallow, rocky areas.

Problems

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.