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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 26th, 2024–Jan 27th, 2024

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

Regions

Pine Pass.

Avalanche danger will increase through the day as new snow and wind form heavy storm slabs at upper elevations and rain soaks the snow surface at lower elevations.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A few wind slab avalanches were reported east of Prince George on Thursday. They were skier-controlled size 1.5 on steep north-facing convex rolls, running on the January facet layer.

Observations are limited in the region. If you go out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Snowpack Summary

20-40 cm of new snow is forecast to fall by the end of the day Saturday. The new snow falls over recent snow that has seen some redistribution by wind at upper elevations, and moist or crusty surfaces at lower elevations.

A layer of facets is now buried 40-80 cm deep. This layer has been observed to be bonding recently but the significant new snow load may have a destabilizing effect in the short term.

The mid snowpack is generally strong and well bonded including a prominent crust buried 50 to 90 cm deep below 1400 m.

Weather Summary

Friday night

15-20 cm of new snow. Southwest alpine wind 50-60 km/h. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with 10-15 cm of new snow. Southwest alpine wind 50-60 km/h. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Sunday

15-20 mm of rain or mixed precip overnight then clearing to a mix of sun and cloud. Southwest alpine wind 40-50 km/h. Treeline temperature +1 °C. Freezing level 2300 m.

Monday

Mostly sunny. Southwest alpine wind 80-90 km/h. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level 2800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful to keep storm day fever from luring you out into bigger terrain features.
  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • As the storm slab problem gets trickier, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.