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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 22nd, 2025–Feb 23rd, 2025

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

Regions

Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Howson.

Choose mellow, low consequence terrain during the storm. The heaviest snowfall is expected southwest of Terrace.

If your area gets less than 30 cm of snow, lower the danger one level.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A natural avalanche cycle is expected to be occurring.

On Friday, reports from the Shames backcountry were of 15 to 30 cm of new snow poorly bonded to the underlying surface, with fast-running loose wet and loose dry avalanches occurring.

Looking forward, natural and human-triggered avalanches will remain likely in areas that are seeing rapid loading from new snow and wind.

Snowpack Summary

40 to 60 cm of recent storm snow may have fallen with southerly wind forming deeper deposits on north-facing slopes. The southwest corner of the forecast area may see much more than this. Terrace is just outside of the forecasted heavy snow area, but conditions could change rapidly if the storm pushes further inland.

This recent snow will overlie a variety of surfaces including a layer of surface hoar in sheltered terrain and wind-affected snow or a sun crust in exposed terrain.

Two layers of surface hoar from January can be found in the top meter of the snowpack.

A layer of facets on top of a crust from early December is buried 100 to 200 cm deep. This layer is generally not a concern in this region.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with up to 20 cm of snow above 500 m, moderate rain below. 40 cm around Kitimat. 50 to 80 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy with up to 20 cm of snow above 500 m, moderate rain below. 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with 2 cm of snow above 1000 m, light rain below. 50 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 rising to 1 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 rising to 2 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.

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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

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.