Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Nov 23rd, 2018 5:07PM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Storm Slabs.

Avalanche Canada cgarritty, Avalanche Canada

Keep the observations coming! Professional data from the Cariboos are scarce at this time of year. Use this bulletin as your initial assessment and continue gathering information as you travel.

Summary

Confidence

Low - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

Friday night: Isolated flurries bringing a trace of new snow. Light west winds.Saturday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a possible trace of new snow. Light to moderate west winds. Alpine high temperatures around -9.Sunday: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate south winds. Alpine high temperatures rising to about -3.Monday: Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong south winds. Alpine high temperatures to about -1 as freezing levels rise to around 1800 metres.

Avalanche Summary

No avalanches have been reported yet in the region, however early season conditions have been limiting observations of the backcountry.

Snowpack Summary

Light snowfall over Thursday and Friday brought recent storm snow totals to about 30-35 cm and total alpine snowpack depths to around 120-190 cm. The storm snow overlies a widespread layer of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals that formed during the clear period prior to the storm at treeline elevations and above. On steeper solar aspects, this surface hoar layer may instead exist as a thin sun crust below the storm snow. Below this layer, there is a basal crust from late October covering the ground.  Snowpack depths taper quickly with elevation and below treeline elevations generally remain below threshold depths for avalanching

Problems

Storm Slabs

An icon showing Storm Slabs
About 30 cm of recent snow sits above a weak layer of feathery surface hoar crystals at upper elevations. It is likely to be most reactive to human triggering where winds have promoted slab formation.
Be extra cautious around sheltered openings near treeline where surface hoar may be most prominent.Watch for signs of instability, such as whumphing, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible - Likely

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Nov 24th, 2018 5:07PM