Avalanche Forecast
Issued: Dec 17th, 2019 3:00PM
The alpine rating is , the treeline rating is , and the below treeline rating is Known problems include Storm Slabs.
cgarritty,
Avalanche Canada
The barrage of storms hitting the coast is not expected to bring much precipitation inland, but be prepared to choose more conservative terrain if new snow exceeds forecast amounts.
Summary
Confidence
Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.
Weather Forecast
TUESDAY NIGHT: - Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace to 5 cm of new snow. Strong southwest winds.
WEDNESDAY - Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures near -5.
THURSDAY: A mix of sun and cloud with flurries beginning overnight. Light to moderate south winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5.
FRIDAY: Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries bringing approximately 5 cm of new snow. New snow totals of 15-20 cm. Light southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5
Avalanche Summary
Observations are limited in this region, though there was a MIN report of several small human triggered avalanches around the Coquihalla Summit area on Saturday after only 20 cm of new snow had accumulated. Click here to read the report.
By Sunday morning, there was up to 60 cm of new snow in the south of the region. In the absence of new observations, and given the avalanche activity that occurred as we reached 20 cm, it would be wise to choose terrain while assuming a substantial storm slab remains sensitive to human triggering
In the northern part of the region: There have been no avalanches reported in recent days. There may be isolated pockets of wind slab and/or storm slab at higher elevations that could be triggered by humans.
Snowpack Summary
Light new snow amounts have begun to accumulate on the surface, with snowpack conditions that vary greatly from north to south within the South Coast Inland region.
In the south, near the Coquihalla, up to 60 cm of recent snow likely sits on a weak layer of surface hoar. Previous strong winds have likely formed storm slabs that may still be reactive to human triggers. The middle of the snowpack contains a mix of hard crusts and facet/crust layers. Snowpack depths at treeline are about 100-150 cm.
In the north, near the Duffey Lake area the previous storm only brought about 10-15 cm of new snow, which is now sitting on an already very thin snowpack. Snowpack depths at treeline are about 40-50 cm.
Problems
Storm Slabs
Conditions are highly varied from north to south within the region.
In the south, up to 50 cm of recent snow likely sits on a weak layer of surface hoar. Storm slabs formed on this layer may still react to human triggers, especially in wind loaded areas.
In the north, a series of light snowfalls have likely formed small but reactive wind slabs, with the most recent slabs likely focused toward northeast aspects.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood
Expected Size
Valid until: Dec 18th, 2019 5:00PM
