Wind slabs are present and continue to develop. They are found in particular at the top of eastern slopes (NE-E-SE) in the alpine. An avalanche was triggered on a wind slab at the end of the afternoon on Saturday at the Mur des Patrouilleurs of Mont Albert. Even small, their triggering could have serious consequences as a result of an uncontrolled slide on the ice and towards obstacles lower on the slope.
Wind slabs are present and will continue to develop with northwest winds. They are found in particular at the top of the lee slopes (NE-E-SE) in the alpine.
A slab avalanche was accidentally triggered by a skier at the top of the Mur des Patrouilleurs of Mont Albert late Saturday afternoon. People have been involved and evacuated but few details are available at this time.
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Near the summits, the wind has redistributed the available snow, exposing the crust or ice at the surface and creating an overlay of variable hardness wind slabs. In more sheltered areas, the February 17 crust is usually found under 15 to 30 cm of low density snow. Facetted grains are slowly developing on this crust. The middle of the snowpack is well consolidated, with the January 18 crust down 40 to 70 cm below the surface. At the base of the snowpack, there is a bread of laminated crusts with decomposing snow.
In general, the height of the snow cover varies from 70 to 90 cm in the valley to 100 to 150 cm in the middle mountains.
Forecast for the Chic-Chocs ridges and summits.
Synopsis: A ridge of high pressure maintains a mix of sun and cloud for Sunday before the arrival of a storm from offshore Newfoundland that will bring snow overnight and into Monday.
Saturday evening and night: A few clouds, no precipitation, northwesterly winds 40 to 60 km/h, minimum -15 C.
Sunday: A mix of sun and clouds, becoming cloudy late in the afternoon, no precipitation, northwesterly winds 40 to 60 km/h, maximum -7 C.
Monday: Snow, 15-25 cm, northeasterly winds 40 to 60 km/h, maximum -5 C.
Tuesday: Periods of snow, 3-5 cm, northeasterly winds 30 to 40 km/h, maximum -5 C.
For more details, see the Chic-Chocs alpine forecast.
