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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 19th, 2025–Feb 20th, 2025

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

Regions

Cariboos, Blue River, Clearwater, Premier, Quesnel, Clemina, North Monashee, Robson.

Watch for small wind slabs building throughout the day.

Avoid slopes with dense and cohesive surface snow, such as in wind or sun-affected areas.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Numerous reports of small (size 1-1.5) loose dry avalanches out of steep terrain have been reported over the past few days. These sluffs are common where the upper snowpack remains loose and unconsolidated.

On Sunday, skiers triggered a size 1.5 persistent slab 30 cm deep in the southwestern part of the region.

Looking forward, a stormy period is forecast over the next few days and we expect the likelihood of avalanches and danger to rise accordingly with new snow amounts.

Snowpack Summary

Around 5 cm of new snow and moderate to strong southwesterly winds are forecast. This snow will be burying a variety of surfaces including old wind-affected snow, a thin sun crust on steep sun-exposed slopes and weak facets and surface hoar in wind-sheltered areas. In the southernmost parts of the region there may be up to 15 cm of snow covering these surfaces already. Various persistent weak layers formed at the end of January are buried 20 to 50 cm. These layers include crust on sun-exposed slopes, surface hoar in shaded, sheltered terrain, and weak faceted grains. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well-settled and strong.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Friday

Cloudy with 2 to 10 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level rising to 1600 m.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with 1 to 10 cm of snow. 40 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level rising to 1800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • The best and safest riding will be on slopes that have soft snow without any slab properties.
  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.

Problems

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.