Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 27th, 2024–Jan 28th, 2024

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 and human triggered avalanches likely.

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.

Expect the new snow to become increasingly reactive as temperatures climb above freezing. Stick to conservative terrain.

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

30-50 cm of new snow is becoming heavy and wet as freezing levels creep up the mountain. At the highest alpine elevations, it may be redistributed by strong southwest wind.

A layer of facets is now buried 50-80 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 50-90 cm deep below 1400 m.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Mostly cloudy with 10-15 cm of new snow. Southwest alpine wind 50-60 km/h. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy. Southwest alpine wind 40-50 km/h. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m, rising to 3000 m overnight.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with 5 mm of mixed precip. Southwest alpine wind 40-50 km/h. Treeline temperature +4 °C. Freezing level 3000 m dropping to 2300m.

Tuesday

15-20 mm of rain overnight then 10-15 mm mixed precip turning to snow over the day. Southwest alpine wind 50-70 km/h. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level dropping to 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

The more the snowpack warms-up and weakens, the more conservative you`ll want to be with your terrain selection.
Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain as temperatures increase.
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.