Avalanche Forecast
Lizard Range and Flathead
Intense winds have blown loose snow into wind slabs on all aspects and elevations. Watch for bouts of sunshine to destabilize slabs and remember that natural cornice falls triggering slabs have been a regular occurrence.
Avalanche Problem 1: Wind Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Watch for reverse wind loading. Intense snow transport from northeast winds was observed Wednesday.
- Use ridges or ribs to avoid pockets of wind loaded snow.
- Use extra caution on slopes if snow becomes moist or wet with sun exposure.
Avalanche Problem 2: Cornices
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Large looming cornices exist across ridgelines. Cornices are unpredictable and demand respect. They're more likely to fail during wind events or when the sun comes out. Natural cornice falls have recently been observed triggering slab avalanches.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Pay attention to overhead hazards like cornices which could trigger slabs on slopes below.
- Give cornices a wide berth when travelling on or below ridges.
Avalanche Summary
Three more natural cornice releases were observed triggering size 2 storm slabs in the Fernie area on Monday.
Reports from Sunday included numerous observations of recent large (size 2-2.5) natural storm slab releases in the Fernie area. Another round of explosives control yielded similar results, with slab depths generally from 30-70 cm. All but southwest aspects showed activity above 1800 metres and northeast aspects were the most active. Two natural cornice releases were also observed triggering slabs on the slopes they landed on.
Cornice control on Saturday work gave numerous size 1-2 avalanches on north through southeast ridgelines. above 1900m. The cornice failures produced mostly loose dry avalanches from the slopes below with a few smaller slabs only releasing in the storm snow.
On Friday, numerous natural storm slab avalanches were reported from north aspects above 1700 m.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 50 cm of recent storm snow has been gradually forming a more reliable bond with the old snow surfaces it buried, including a melt-freeze crust on sunny aspects and all aspects below 1600 m as well as surface hoar on north aspects above 1600 m. Wind slabs are building on most aspects due to the changing winds and overhanging cornices exist along ridgelines. Natural cornice falls triggering large avalanches has been a trend for the past few days.
Deeper in the snowpack, the mid-December and late-November weak layers are composed of crusts and sugary facets, which are down 150-300 cm. These layers are currently considered dormant.
Weather Forecast
Thursday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light west winds. Freezing level to 1600 metres with alpine high temperatures around -3.
Friday: Cloudy with flurries bringing about 7 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong west winds decreasing over the day. Freezing level to 1600 metres with alpine high temperatures around -3.
Saturday: A mix of sun and cloud. Light east winds. Freezing level to 1400 metres with alpine high temperatures around -5.
Avalanche Forecasts in your Inbox
Avalanche Canada has switched to an RSS feed for its daily forecasts. This is a much more flexible method that allows automatic delivery to your email inbox, or to an RSS reader of your choice.
What are RSS feeds?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a popular standardized file format allowing up-to-date delivery of web-based content. RSS feeds enable you to receive content updates from websites, delivered to your email through an RSS aggregator (such as blogtrottr.com) or viewed through applications called RSS readers (such as feedly.com).
Set up an RSS feed for your email:
Select a RSS aggregator
- Lizard Range and Flathead URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/lizard-range.rss - Copy the url and paste it into the appropriate field of your RSS aggregator.
- Fill in your email address.
- Voila! Watch the Avalanche Canada forecast roll into your inbox.
Forecast Disclaimer
Avalanche Canada's Public Avalanche Bulletin, and other information and services provided by Avalanche Canada, are intended for personal and recreational purposes only.
**THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IN NO EVENT SHALL THE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM DISCOMFORT, INJURY, OR DEATH, CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES OR FOR OTHER SIMILAR COSTS, OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE INFORMATION.**
The user acknowledges that it is impossible to accurately predict natural events such as avalanches in every instance, and uses the data in this bulletin with this always foremost in mind. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and the Providers disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use the data.
Strong and shifting winds have redistributed our storm snow into reactive wind slabs in wind-affected areas at all elevations. Slabs may also be reactive in steeper, sheltered areas where the recent snow sits on surface hoar.