Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 2nd, 2024–Jan 3rd, 2024

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

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.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Inland, Howson, Kispiox, Microwave-Sinclair, North Bulkley, South Bulkley, South Bulkley, South Bulkley, Telkwa.

Watch for blowing snow and signs of instability. Be prepared to choose more conservative terrain if you observe whumphing or significant wind transport.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity has been reported in the past few days.

Whumpfing has been experienced by backcountry users in the Babines, Grizzly Plateau, and Hudson Bay Mountain recently. The whumpfing is likely due to the surface hoar layers described in the snowpack summary.

Snowpack Summary

Check out this great MIN from the north of the region.

As southerly winds increase new wind slabs will likely form on north aspects. Southerly faces in the alpine are scoured down to the ground or an early-season crust. A crust exists at or near the surface below treeline.

In most areas, two or more preserved surface hoar layers can be found buried between 35 cm and 80 cm deep. They appear to be most prominent at treeline and below but have been observed in some alpine locations as well.

Snowpack depths at treeline are variable across the region with generally deeper amounts (~150cm) in the western part and shallower (~80cm) in the eastern part.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy with trace amounts of new snow expected, east alpine wind 15 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -5°C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with a couple centimeters of new snow expected, southeast alpine wind 20 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -4°C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with trace amounts of new snow expected, southwest alpine wind 20 to 60 km/h, treeline temperature -3°C.

Friday

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow expected, southwest alpine wind 20 to 60 km/h, treeline temperature -4°C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
Pay attention to the wind, once it starts to blow fresh sensitive wind slabs are likely to form.
Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.