If you do go out in the cold, seek out sheltered terrain that hasn't been wind-affected.
Check out our Forecasters' Blog about managing these cold temperatures.
Recent winds have built slabs at and below ridgetops in atypical areas. These slabs are likely to be more reactive where they overlie a weak layer of surface hoar and/or a crust.
Friday Continued reports of windslab on south aspects up to size 2
Thursday The field team reported a size 1 (small) wind slab avalanche in the Ground Hog area. Check out this MIN for more details.
Wednesday A few size 1 (small) skier-triggered slabs were reported in the Cariboos near Quesnel Lake. They were 55 cm deep and failed on a weak layer of surface hoar.
Tuesday A natural size 2.5 (large) wind slab was reported on a southwest face at treeline north of Powder King.
Previous strong winds have created wind slabs in exposed areas at treeline and above on south and westerly faces.
10-20 cm of new snow fell in the region earlier this week, adding to about 20-30 cm of older storm snow. Collectively, this snow sits on a crust up to 1400 m in the north and 1900 m in the south. In parts of the Cariboos, this snow may also overlie a weak layer of surface hoar.
Two more layers of surface hoar may be found buried between 90 and 150 cm at treeline. The likelihood of triggering these layers is low, with the possible exception being, shallow rocky areas at upper treeline.
The current snowpack has considerable variation in structure and depths across the region and is shallow for this time of year.
Saturday night
Partly cloudy with no new snow, variable alpine wind 15-40 km/h. treeline temperature -30 °C.
Sunday
Mostly sunny, with no new snow, northwest alpine wind 20-50 km/h, treeline temperature high -26 °C.
Monday
Mostly sunny, with no new snow, northwest alpine wind 20-40 km/h, treeline temperature high -22 °C.
Tuesday
Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine wind 20-30 km/h, treeline temperature -16 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
