Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, South Coast Inland, Stein, Taseko.
Beware of wind slabs in steep alpine terrain.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
Reports from Wednesday suggest small (size 1) wind slabs were reactive on a variety of aspects in the alpine and upper treeline elevations. The slabs were 10 to 20 cm thick, with some failing on a buried surface hoar layer.
Snowpack Summary
Wind and sun have created variable surface conditions, with northeast wind heavily impacting open terrain.
15 to 30 cm of snow sits above a widespread crust. Many areas have reported a weak surface hoar layer above this crust, which could be problematic in areas where wind has formed a slab above the layer.
Snowpack depths decrease rapidly below treeline.
Weather Summary
Thursday Night
Clear skies. 30 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.
Friday
Sunny. 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
Saturday
Mix of sun and cloud. 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
Sunday
Cloudy with 2 to 4 cm of snow. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Shifting wind has formed small but reactive wind slabs in the alpine.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5