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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 26th, 2022–Dec 27th, 2022

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

Regions

South Coast, North Shore, Sasquatch, Sasquatch, Sky Pilot.

New snow and strong southerly winds are building fresh storm slabs at higher elevations. Continually assess how new snow is bonding to old surfaces as storm slabs build through the day.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No notable recent avalanches have been reported in the region. In neighboring regions, several natural wet loose avalanches were reported to size 2.5, and storm slab avalanches were reported to size 2. If you head into the backcountry you will likely see evidence of an avalanche cycle from the weekend.

Please continue to post your observations and photos to the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

By Tuesday morning 10 -15 cm of snow overlies saturated surfaces at higher elevations.

As freezing levels drop expect to find a wet snowpack quickly becoming uniform and cohesive. Until then watch for unstable snow on specific features, when snow is moist or wet.

Prior to this weekend's rain event, the snowpack was well settled with treeline depths 100-180 cm.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Cloudy skies. A brief break between storms ends early evening as scattered flurries start up again, 10-20 mm. Ridgeline high temperature +2 C. Southerly winds 25-40 km/hr. Freezing level 1500m rising to 2000 m through the night

Tuesday

Moderate to heavy precip, 20-30 mm. Ridgetop high temperature 0 C. Southerly wind 40 - 60 km/h weakening in the afternoon. Freezing levels fall to 1500 m.

Wednesday

Scattered flurries, 10 mm. Ridgetop high temperature -4 C. Westerley winds 20-30 km/hr. Freezing levels 500-1000 m.

Thursday

Scattered flurries, 10 mm. Ridgeline high temperature -2 C. Southerly wind 40 - 60 km/h weakening in the afternoon. Freezing levels 500-1000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
  • Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 30 cm of new snow.
  • 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.