Avalanche forecast

Northwest Coastal

Jan 14 – 15, 2015Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 12 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

The recent snowfall has produced numerous large natural avalanches. Choose conservative terrain to stay safe during this instability period.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–4
    Recent storm snow is being redistributed onto lee slopes and reported to be reactive to rider triggering.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    2–5
    This buried layer is still reactive with a large enough trigger.

Confidence

Fair - Due to the number and quality of field observations

Weather Forecast

A fast-moving cold front will arrive on the North Coast on Thursday afternoon bringing more precipitation. Rain at lower elevations and snow above 1500 metres. Freezing level should drop to 700 metres late Thusday night, or early Friday morning.

Avalanche Summary

Reports of natural avalanche activity up to size 3 between 700 and 1700 metres on s facing slopes.  Explosives testing in the region has produced numerous size 1 to 2 avalanches suspected to fail on the Dec. melt-freeze crust and facets associated with this layer.Wind loaded slopes reactive to skier triggering.

Snowpack Summary

Strong winds have redistributed the recent storm snow into wind slabs, and rain is saturating the surface of the snowpack at treeline and below. Above treeline, a buried surface hoar layer 10-20cm below the surface has been reported. The mid-December crust/facet layer exists throughout the area where it hasn't been wiped out by recent avalanche activity. The November crust near the bottom of the snowpack is generally well bonded but may still be reactive in areas with shallow snowpack.

Regions covered