Avalanche forecast

South Coast Inland

Jan 2, 2017Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Cold north winds have been blowing. Watch for fresh wind slabs, particularly on southerly aspects.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2
    Fresh wind slabs are forming on mainly south to west aspects behind exposed terrain features. Slabs found on south aspect slopes could become more unstable when the sun is out.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

MONDAY: Dry and sunny. Winds northeasterly 20-30 km/h at ridgetop. Ridgetop temperatures around -16C. TUESDAY: Dry and sunny. Winds northeasterly 15-25 km/h. Temperatures around -18C. WEDNESDAY: Dry and sunny. Winds northeasterly 40-60 km/h. Temperatures around -16C.

Avalanche Summary

A loose snow avalanche was human-triggered in steep terrain in the Coquihallas on Saturday resulting in the loss of a ski.

Snowpack Summary

The critical parts of the snowpack under current conditions are wind slabs in exposed areas, and, for low snow areas such as the Chilcotins, a layer of faceted snow from mid-December that in those areas is buried under about 50 cm of snow. Most parts of the region saw 60-90 cm new snow last week, which is reported to be generally bonding well. A facet/surface hoar layer was buried on Boxing Day (surface hoar up to 5 mm was observed in the Duffey Lake area), but does not seem to have turned into a major concern. The mid-December interface is now down over 1 m in most parts and is generally considered to be stable, except in shallow snowpack areas as mentioned above, where snowpack tests indicate it could still be a viable failure plane.

Regions covered