Recent wind has created heightened avalanche conditions on steep, open slopes in both the alpine and treeline.
Recent winds formed slabs at and below ridgetops in atypical areas. These slabs could be more reactive on slopes where they overlie a weak layer of surface hoar and/or a crust.
A few small (size 1 to 1.5), isolated wind slab avalanches were observed in alpine terrain across the region on Wednesday and Thursday.
Strong northeast wind has redistributed 20 cm of recent low-density snow. This snow may bond poorly to underlying layers of surface hoar, faceted snow, and wind-pressed snow.
A prominent crust is found 30 to 50 cm deep. It extends up to 1900 m in the Cariboos and up to 1400 m around Pine Pass. At this point, the only potential concern with this layer is for areas east of Quesnel and Williams Lake, where a layer of small surface hoar has been observed near the crust.
The midpack is reportedly strong and bonded.
Friday Night
Cloudy with 5-10 cm of snow, southwest alpine wind 20-60 km/h, treeline temperature -12 °C.
Saturday
Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine wind 20-50 km/h, treeline temperature -8 °C.
Sunday
Cloudy with up to 3 cm snow, south alpine wind 10-20 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.
Monday
Cloudy with up to 3 cm of snow, southwest alpine wind 30 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C except 0 °C around Wells/ Barkerville.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
