Bulletin d’avalanche

South Rockies

Feb 14 – 15, 2015Avalanche Canada
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Archivé · expiré 12 years ago

Danger d’avalanche

Mon
Tue
Alpin
3 · Marqué
Limite forestière
2 · Modéré
Sous la limite
1 · Faible
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Points saillants

A Special Public Avalanche Warning is in effect for this region. The cooling trend is expected to begin overnight, but daytime heating and strong solar radiation may continue.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    1–4
    Hard wind slabs may be stubborn to trigger, but they have a tenancy to propagate across entire slopes or pull into low angled terrain on ridge crests, catching people by surprise.

  • Cornices

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    1–3
    Cornices will likely become unstable with fluctuating temperatures. Not only are they a hazard in themselves, but they are also large triggers for deep slab avalanches on the slope below.

  • Deep Persistent Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Unlikely - Possible
    Taille
    3–5
    Persistent weaknesses recently woke up with the warm temperatures and should be treated with suspicion until after things freeze up again. Although likely to need a large trigger, the potential consequences are dire.

Confidence

Fair - Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain

Weather Forecast

Expect cloud and some lingering precipitation overnight. Freezing level should be near valley bottom by Sunday morning. Light winds and a mix of sun and cloud on Sunday with freezing levels rising up to about 1500 metres. Cloudy overnight and Monday with light winds and freezing down to valley bottoms followed by daytime heating up to 1200 metres. Tuesday should start with a good freeze and then freezing levels will rise up to about 1500 metres under clear skies with strong solar radiation.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches reported.

Snowpack Summary

Recent reports suggest 10-50 cm thick hard wind slabs lurk below ridge crests and behind terrain features at treeline and alpine elevations; however, these seem to be generally well-bonded. In more sheltered areas, variable amounts of previous storm snow is sitting on a crust that formed at the end of January. Recent warm temperatures have softened the upper snowpack, reawakening deep persistent weaknesses in isolated areas. As temperatures continue to fluctuate and stress the snowpack, expect an increased likelihood of triggering large destructive avalanches in isolated areas (e.g. thin spots) with heavy triggers (e.g. cornice falls, stuck sleds spinning tracks, or groups of people).

Régions couvertes