Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 5th, 2022 2:00PM

The alpine rating is low, the treeline rating is low, and the below treeline rating is below threshold. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

Avalanche Canada jfmichaud, Avalanche Canada

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A few centimetres of new snow now covers the crust, but it is not enough to cover the early season obstacles.

Summary

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity has been observed or reported. Please share your observations at info@avalanchequebec.ca, or with the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

At the Madeleine Mines today, we found between 3 and 7 cm of new very light snow that rested directly on the crust formed by the rain and ice from Saturday night to Sunday. In areas of heavy accumulation, between 10 and 15 cm of snow can be found between this crust and that of December 1, 2022. The snow crystals under the December 1 crust are slowly beginning to form flat faces. At this early stage of the season, snowpack heights range from 20 to 45 cm in general and up to 70 to 80 cm in areas of maximum accumulation. Conditions remain marginal with barely enough snow to cover obstacles and a crust (or two...) that makes travel difficult and perilous.

Weather Summary

Forecast for the Chic-Chocs ridges and summits

A ridge of high pressure will still have influence on Tuesday, but will slowly give way to the next low pressure system expected on Wednesday. Evening and night: Cloudy, winds south 60 to 80 km/h, low -5.Tuesday: Cloudy, winds south 60 to 70 km/h, high -2. Freezing level at 500 meters. Wednesday: Rain in the afternoon, winds southeast 60 to 90 km/h, maximum +1. Freezing level rises to 1500 m. Thursday: Rain or snow, winds from the west 20 to 40 km/h, maximum +1. Freezing level 600 meters.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs

Up to 7cm of new snow accumulations could be found at Mines Madeleine on Monday. This snow was transported and will continue to be transported until tomorrow, forming wind slabs, mainly in gullies, depressions and terrain breaks. The strong winds and early season conditions make this a very isolated and sporadic issue, so it does not affect the hazard index. Consider areas of recent heavy loading in the alpine as having a higher danger rating.

Aspects: North, North East, North West.

Elevations: Alpine.

Likelihood

Unlikely - Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Dec 6th, 2022 3:00PM

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