Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain

Change is coming on Tuesday evening and then wet on Wednesday into Thursday. TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy with wet snow or rain beginning in the evening / High temperatures to +6 Celsius / Moderate southwesterly winds / Freezing level around 2600 m. WEDNESDAY: Rain (20-40mm in the South ; 40-60mm in the North) or wet snow / Moderate southerly winds / Freezing level around 2400m. THURSDAY: Wet flurries changing to snow (10-25cm) / Moderate southwesterly winds / Freezing level around 1500 m.

On Sunday there were reports of widespread whoompfs near treeline on Northerly aspects in the Duffey Lake zone. Compression tests gave sudden results down 65cm on surface hoar. Click here to see this MIN post. We had reports of a remote-triggered Size 1.5 on a northwest aspect near 1750m just outside the Manning ski area on Saturday - skiers traveling along the ridgeline triggered an adjacent slope. Click here to see this MIN post.

Last week we had 60-80cm storm snow (lower amounts in the north), which fell with moderate to strong southwest winds. The main concern right now in the Duffey zone is lingering storm and wind slabs, which have given moderate resistant and sudden results (down 30-40cm and also 60-70cm) in recent snowpack tests (see above for more information). On the Coquihalla, a temperature crust can be found up to 1800m and significant wind effect occurred at upper treeline and alpine elevations.The mid-December facets down 130-160 cm still remain a concern especially in shallower snowpack areas in the Duffey, Hurley and/ or South Chilcotins. These deeper weaknesses warrant monitoring, especially with rapid warming next week. In southern areas (Coquihalla), the lower snowpack is reportedly well settled (stronger), than it is to the north.