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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 7th, 2024–Jan 8th, 2024

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

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Selkirk, Shuswap, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, North Okanagan, Whatshan.

Start small and gather information about storm snow's reactivity before committing to bigger features. Avoid generalizing observations to places where surface hoar may be buried.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Visibility was limited on Saturday but we still got lots of avalanche reports connected to the 30-60 cm of new snow that fell in the region. Here's a report from the action west of Revelstoke.

Professional reports echoed this MIN with a mix of numerous storm slab and dry loose releases, mainly to size 1.5 (small). Persistent slabs didn't figure into these reports. Did the storm trigger any? Wider observations with clearer skies may tell us.

Snowpack Summary

30-60 cm of new snow blanketed the region in Saturday's storm. Deeper and more reactive deposits are found in east facing terrain features. The new snow has buried an aspect and elevation-dependent mix of crusts, surface hoar, and facets.

A crust formed by the early December rain event is found roughly 70 cm deep, and a layer of surface hoar is found 60 to 100 cm deep.

Where the crust is thick and strong it makes triggering the surface hoar layer less likely. Triggering remains a concern at higher elevations where the crust is less prominent.

The lower snowpack is variable throughout the region and weak basal facets are likely to be found on the ground in shallow snowpack areas.

Weather Summary

Sunday night

Diminishing cloud. Northwest alpine wind shifting southwest, 5-15 km/h.

Monday

Increasing cloud with a possible trace of new snow by end of day, increasing overnight. Southwest alpine winds 5-15 km/h, increasing. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with continuing snowfall bringing 10-20 cm of new snow, continuing overnight. Southwest alpine winds 20-50 km/h. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Wednesday

Decreasing cloud and easing flurries bringing another 5-15 cm of new snow, including overnight amounts. Northwest alpine wind, 5-15 km/h. Treeline temperature -12°C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Surface hoar distribution is highly variable. Avoid generalizing your observations.

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.