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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 13th, 2024–Jan 14th, 2024

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

Regions

Cariboos, North Rockies, McBride, Quesnel, Sugarbowl, Kakwa, McGregor, Pine Pass, Renshaw, Robson.

If you do go out in the cold, seek out sheltered terrain that hasn't been wind-affected.

Check out our Forecasters' Blog about managing these cold temperatures.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Friday Continued reports of windslab on south aspects up to size 2

Thursday The field team reported a size 1 (small) wind slab avalanche in the Ground Hog area. Check out this MIN for more details.

Wednesday A few size 1 (small) skier-triggered slabs were reported in the Cariboos near Quesnel Lake. They were 55 cm deep and failed on a weak layer of surface hoar.

Tuesday A natural size 2.5 (large) wind slab was reported on a southwest face at treeline north of Powder King.

Snowpack Summary

Previous strong winds have created wind slabs in exposed areas at treeline and above on south and westerly faces.

10-20 cm of new snow fell in the region earlier this week, adding to about 20-30 cm of older storm snow. Collectively, this snow sits on a crust up to 1400 m in the north and 1900 m in the south. In parts of the Cariboos, this snow may also overlie a weak layer of surface hoar.

Two more layers of surface hoar may be found buried between 90 and 150 cm at treeline. The likelihood of triggering these layers is low, with the possible exception being, shallow rocky areas at upper treeline.

The current snowpack has considerable variation in structure and depths across the region and is shallow for this time of year.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Partly cloudy with no new snow, variable alpine wind 15-40 km/h. treeline temperature -30 °C.

Sunday

Mostly sunny, with no new snow, northwest alpine wind 20-50 km/h, treeline temperature high -26 °C.

Monday

Mostly sunny, with no new snow, northwest alpine wind 20-40 km/h, treeline temperature high -22 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine wind 20-30 km/h, treeline temperature -16 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
  • The best and safest riding will be on slopes that have soft snow without any slab properties.

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.