Avalanche Forecast

An upper low in the Gulf of Alaska is pushing a frontal wave through the Northwest Inland Sunday night delivering copious southwest wind and a bit of snow.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Freezing level between 800 and 1100 m, strong to extreme southwest wind, 5 to 10 cm of snow expected.

MONDAY: Broken cloud cover with some potential for clearing in the late afternoon, freezing level around 700 m, strong west/northwest wind, trace of snow expected.

TUESDAY: Broken cloud cover, freezing level climbing, potentially as high as 1700 m in the afternoon, strong to extreme southwest wind, trace of snow possible.

WEDNESDAY: Broken cloud cover, freezing level potentially peaking as high as 2000 m in the afternoon, strong to extreme south/southwest wind, trace of precipitation possible.

New snow and wind Saturday night through Sunday night has likely formed fresh storm slabs at and above treeline.  

Observations are very limited but the combination of snow and wind over the past few days has almost certainly formed wind slabs in open terrain. On Thursday there were reports of some small (size 1) wind slabs on wind-loaded east aspects.

Please submit your observations to the Mountain Information Network!

The storm produced about 20 cm of snow in the far north of the region Saturday night into Sunday, but very little snow in areas closer to Smithers. Winds have been steady out of the southeast over the last 24 hours though, and the new snow has almost certainly been formed into slabs in wind exposed features. This MIN report is a good example of that.

Heavy wind effect seems to be the theme from last week, and that is expected to continue into this week.  

Snowpack depths range from 60 cm in eastern parts of the region up to over 100 cm in western parts of the region. Lower elevation terrain may still be below the threshold for avalanches. Reports suggest the bottom half of the snowpack consists of crusts, and in some cases some weak snow may be developing around these crusts. This will be a layer to monitor as the season progresses.

• Be careful as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Be especially cautious near rock outcroppings, on steep convexities and anywhere the snowpack feels thinner than average.
• Seek out sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been wind-affected.