Avalanche Forecast

A few wind slab avalanches were reported east of Prince George on Thursday. They were skier-controlled size 1.5 on steep north-facing convex rolls, running on the January facet layer.

Observations are limited in the region. If you go out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

20-40 cm of new snow is forecast to fall by the end of the day Saturday. The new snow falls over recent snow that has seen some redistribution by wind at upper elevations, and moist or crusty surfaces at lower elevations.

A layer of facets is now buried 40-80 cm deep. This layer has been observed to be bonding recently but the significant new snow load may have a destabilizing effect in the short term.

The mid snowpack is generally strong and well bonded including a prominent crust buried 50 to 90 cm deep below 1400 m.

Friday night

15-20 cm of new snow. Southwest alpine wind 50-60 km/h. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with 10-15 cm of new snow. Southwest alpine wind 50-60 km/h. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Sunday

15-20 mm of rain or mixed precip overnight then clearing to a mix of sun and cloud. Southwest alpine wind 40-50 km/h. Treeline temperature +1 °C. Freezing level 2300 m.

Monday

Mostly sunny. Southwest alpine wind 80-90 km/h. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level 2800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Be careful to keep storm day fever from luring you out into bigger terrain features.
• Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
• As the storm slab problem gets trickier, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
• The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.