Avoid being in or under avalanche terrain.
New snow and wind are creating a new avalanche problem, and increasing the chance of triggering deeper weak layers.
Persistent weak layers including crust/facet combos and buried surface hoar continue surprising avalanches. These weak layers will get easier to trigger and will produce larger avalanches as new snow piles up.
New snow and wind are making natural avalanches likely, and human triggered avalanches very likely. Use extra caution around ridgecrests, rolls, and on convex slopes.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, large (up to size 2) natural and human-triggered avalanches continued to occur.
Some reports are of remotely triggered avalanches, which indicate a sensitive snowpack and the need for conservative terrain choices, especially with increased load from new snow and wind.
Click on the photos below for more details.
Storm totals should reach 20-50 cm by the end of the day on Friday. Strong to extreme south winds could scour ridgetops and create deeper, more reactive deposits in leeward terrain, possibly even further downslope than expected.
Several persistent weak layers are likely buried between 70 and 140 cm deep. These weak layers include hard crusts, weak facets and surface hoar. Avalanches continue to be caused on these layers, including remote triggering and very large step-down avalanches.
Thursday Night
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 15 cm of snow expected to valley bottom, up to 35 cm around Kitimat. Strong to extreme south wind. Treeline temperature around -4 °C.
Friday
Cloudy. 5 to 15 cm of snow expected to near valley bottom. Closer to 20 cm around Kitimat. Strong southwest wind in the morning decreasing to moderate in the afternoon. Treeline temperature around -5 °C.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy. 1 to 3 cm of snow expected above 500 m. Light variable ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -5 °C.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy, possibly a bit clearer east of Terrace. 1 to 3 cm of snow expected above 750 m. Light to moderate south or southeast wind. Treeline temperature around -4 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
