Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain

More snow Sunday - Monday... and beyond. This will be a stormy period for the Northwest. MONDAY: Sunday night all through Monday: 40 cm near Kitimat ; 10-20 cm near Terrace ; 20-30 cm near Stewart. Winds strong (60 Km/hr +) from the southwest. Freezing level 800m in the south and 1100m in the north. Alpine high temperatures -1 in the south and -5 in the north. TUESDAY: An additional 30 cm in the south and 15 cm in the north. Winds moderate to strong (40-60 Km/hr) from the south. Freezing level 1400m in the south and 1100m in the north. Alpine temperatures near +1 in the south and -3 in the north. WEDNESDAY: Another 15-30cm depending on your location. Freezing levels 1100-1300m. Winds moderate southwesterly. Alpine temperatures +1 to -3.

Several storm slabs and loose dry avalanches were reported on a wide range of aspects Saturday.

We've had a significant warming trend since the arctic outbreak, and a large storm snowfall gradient (15-30cm in the south ; 50-70cm near Stewart). The new snow fell with moderate to strong SW winds, and formed touchy soft slabs and wind slabs. Expect this new snow to bond poorly to all the windslabs (and a spotty layer of surface hoar and facets buried Jan 12th) that formed during last week's arctic outbreak conditions. The older wind slabs sit on a variable interface composed of hard wind slabs, weak surface hoar (Jan 5/6 layer) and faceted snow. If you're starting to think it's a dog's breakfast, you're right! With the recent new snow loading, the deeper slabs are expected to remain reactive, especially on southwest facing features near ridge crests. Deeper in the snowpack, the Christmas surface hoar layer (buried 70-120 cm) is still preserved in some southern areas and might still be reactive in sheltered areas and steep open features at treeline. Deeper weak layers (early December facets) have only been reactive in areas with thin snowpacks.