Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 1st, 2024–Jan 2nd, 2024

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

Regions

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

Expect small, easily triggered avalanches on steep slopes in the Monashees, as recent snow is poorly bonded to old surfaces.

A buried weak layer may persist within range of human triggering.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

  • Small (size 1) loose dry avalanches have been easily triggered by ski cuts in the new snow on Sunday.

  • Explosive control work near Revelstoke on Saturday produced cornice and near-surface slab avalanches size 1.5-2.5.

  • A couple of natural wind slabs size 1-2 and a persistent slab size 1.5 have been reported out of steep, unsupported alpine features in the last few days.

Snowpack Summary

5-10 cm of recent snow (and up to 20 cm in the west Monashees) sits poorly bonded to old surfaces including crusts, surface hoar and facets.

The mid snowpack contains a couple of layers of note; a hard crust formed by an early December rain event around 60 cm deep and a layer of surface hoar 60 to 100 cm deep. Where it exists, the crust effectively bridges underlying weak layers, but the surface hoar remains a concern in areas that do not have the overlying crust.

The lower snowpack is variable throughout the region; in shallower snowpack areas, basal facets may exist.

Weather Summary

Monday night

Partly cloudy, ridgetop wind 20-30 km/h southeast, treeline temperature -8 °C.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and cloud, ridgetop wind 20-30 km/h southeast, treeline temperature -4 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with a trace of new snow, ridgetop wind <20 km/h variable, treeline temperature -3 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with a trace of new snow, ridgetop wind 30-40 km/h variable, treeline temperature -2 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.

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.

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.