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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 31st, 2023–Feb 1st, 2023

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson, Ningunsaw.

As the storm builds on Wednesday closely monitor how well new snow is bonding to underlying surfaces. Avoid slopes with freshly deposited wind slabs by watching for signs of instability like shooting cracks.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A few small wind slab avalanches were reported across the region on Monday.

Backcountry users continue to report evidence of a significant avalanche cycle during the recent warm, wet, and windy weather early in the week. The majority of these avalanches were wind slabs, however, a number of avalanches stepped down to buried persistent layers, creating large, scary avalanches, like this one nearby in the Telkwa area on Friday.

If you are out in the backcountry please consider filling out a Mountain Information Network report.

Snowpack Summary

New snow overlays various wind-affected surfaces in alpine terrain and widespread, supportive, melt-freeze crusts at lower elevations (roughly 1900 m and below). Much of this new snow is being blown into wind slab by southwest winds.

The mid and lower snowpack continues to bond and stabilize while a number of buried weak layers remain a concern and have produced a number of large recent avalanches.

Weather Summary

Tuesday night

Cloudy with light snow, 2 to 5 cm. Treeline temperatures -5 to -10 C. Moderate southwest winds.

Wednesday

Cloudy with snow, 10 to 15 cm. Treeline temperatures -5 C. Strong southwest alpine winds.

Thursday

Cloudy with snow, 20 to 40 cm. Treeline temperatures -5 C. Strong south winds.

Friday

Cloudy with snow in the alpine, 5 cm. Treeline temperatures +1 C. Strong southwest winds. Freezing levels rising to 1000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.