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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 19th, 2023–Dec 20th, 2023

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

Regions

Cariboos, North Columbia, Blue River, Clearwater, McBride, Premier, Quesnel, Clemina, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, Renshaw, Robson, Central Selkirk.

Buried surface hoar remains the primary avalanche concern, and may be prone to human-triggering where present.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Sporadic reports continue to provide evidence that buried surface hoar layers remain human-triggerable. Avalanches up to size 2.5 have mostly occurred in treeline and alpine terrain, but have been reported as low as 1950 m.

This Mountain Information Network (MIN) post from neighboring Glacier National Park is the most recent occurrence.

Snowpack Summary

Roughly 30 cm of recent snow continues to settle and stabilize with mild temperatures and minimal wind. A layer of buried surface hoar may exist below the recent storm snow in wind-sheltered features. A crust exists down roughly 40 cm from the surface at treeline and below.

A problematic layer of surface hoar is now roughly 50-90 cm below the surface.

The lower snowpack is generally facetted with a hard crust found just above the ground. Generally, the snowpack remains shallow for this time of year, with average treeline snow depths around 80 to 120 cm.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 2 to 8 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 2 to 8 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy with 2 to 8 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 40 to 60 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.

Friday

Cloudy with 2 to 8 cm of snow, south alpine winds 40 to 60 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Uncertainty is best managed through conservative terrain choices at this time.
  • Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.
  • Use caution when approaching steep and rocky terrian.

Problems

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.