Thursday's Child(ren)

Location Name: Forecaster Observation - Canyon Creek Observation date: Saturday, January 22, 2022 - 20:15	Is this an Avalanche Observation: Yes

Observation made by: Forecaster

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Quick Observation

Seat-of-the snowmobile obs from L1 class.

debris from 2 recent (Thursday-Friday) large natural avalanches in southerly facing avalanche paths above Canyone Creek (avalanche tab).
A few roller balls on sunny, low-elevation slopes. None entrained any debris.
Snow profile on northerly slope showed snowpack progressively harder w depth to early Dec. snow ~30 cm above ground. No propagating failures at this interface or others.
No wind effects in gladed, northerly mid elevation slopes.

Travel Details

Region:

Whitefish Range - Southern (south of Coal Creek)

Route Description:

3500-6000'

Activity:

Snowmobiling

Snowpack Details

Snowpack and Weather Details:

Terrain

Elevation of observation:

3500-5000 ft

5000-6500 ft

Aspect(s) of observation:

Red Flags:

Avalanches from the past 2 days

New Snow in the past 24 hours:

0.00in.

Total Snow Depth:

155

More comments about the snowpack and weather:

Calm, with clouds hanging around the ridgelines and a few brief patches of blue sky. Profile at 6000 ft, northeasterly, HS 155 cm. F+ to P above Dec. 3 interface. Below, 1F. Rounding FC, 1-2 mm. Moist. recent MFcr not that apparent in pitwall. ECTN6/7 at 12/19 IF; ECTN12x2 down 30 cm, ECTX below, even with modified "deep ECT." Broke to ground, but directly below shovel. No crack.

Blowing Snow:

None

Wind Speed:

Calm (No air motion)

Air temperature:

Below Freezing

Snow line:

3000

Sky Cover:

Mostly Cloudy (BRK)

Avalanche Details

Avalanche Details:

Date and Time of Avalanche:

Thursday, January 20, 2022 - 22:15

Number of avalanches:

Avalanche Type:

Unknown

Failure Plane/Weak Layer:

Unknown

More information or comments about the avalanche:

Debris from 2 slides seen in large southerly avalanche paths above Canyon Creek. Couldn't make out crowns or starting elevation due to flat light and clouds. Debris ran to bottom of track or top of runout. Channeled in gully. Looked fresh. Likely Thursday night- Friday AM, when warming followed intense snowfall. Few rollerballs seen on sunny slopes nearby, so doubt slides were triggered by sunny periods Friday.

Trigger

Trigger:

natural

Terrain

Aspect:

Southeast

Starting Elevation:

near-treeline

Size

Destructive Size:

D2 Could bury, injure, or kill a person.

Relative Size:

R2 Small

People Involved

Number of people caught:

Avalanche Location:

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