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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 9th, 2014–Dec 10th, 2014

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

Regions

Northwest Inland.

Snow, wind, and rain is keeping avalanche danger elevated.

Confidence

Fair - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

On Wednesday expect continued light rain or wet snow with freezing levels as high as 1600 m and moderate to strong southerly alpine winds. Thursday and Friday are looking drier and cooler with light flurries and associated light to moderate southwesterly alpine wind, possible but freezing levels back to valley bottoms.

Avalanche Summary

There are no new avalanche reports from the region. Please let us know what you're seeing out there. Submit your observations through the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

Light rain is saturating the upper snowpack and resulting in wet, loose, and cohesionless surface snow at lower elevations. Recent reports describe a shallow, highly variable, and wind affected snowpack with an average snow depth of 60 to 100 cm at treeline elevations. There are two distinct crusts in the snowpack; the upper crust is down 15-25cm in sheltered areas and is the current layer of concern. It's surrounded by weak faceted snow and has been giving easy test results with sudden shears and collapses. In some areas the lower crust was found just below the upper crust with weak faceted snow in between, while elsewhere the lower crust is just off the ground. The highly variable and wind-affected nature of the snowpack means that slopes on the leeward side of ridge crests and terrain breaks will have significantly deeper and more hazardous slabs overlying these weaknesses. Check out the Bulkley Valley Ski Society Facebook page for recent observations from the Hankin and Evelyn areas.

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.