Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Blue River, Cariboos, Clearwater, Clemina, North Monashee, Premier, Quesnel.
Conservative terrain travel is recommended, as human-triggering of large avalanches is likely.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
A couple large (size 2) naturally triggered persistent slab avalanches were observed in the alpine near Valemount on Tuesday. They were 100 cm deep, on east aspects, and failed on the buried weak layer described in the snowpack summary.
Otherwise, riders and explosives continued to trigger small to large (size 1 to 3) storm slab avalanches within all the recent storm snow. Most avalanches were on north to east aspects between 1900 and 2100 m and 50 to 80 cm deep.
Snowpack Summary
New snow will add to the 50 to 80 cm of storm snow since Saturday. All this snow sits on a hard melt-freeze crust found everywhere except north-facing slopes above 1600 m. There may also be isolated surface hoar crystals above the crust in wind-sheltered terrain around treeline. Southwest wind may form deeper and touchier deposits in lee terrain features at high elevations.
A weak layer of surface hoar and/or faceted grains buried mid-February is around 70 to 120 cm deep.
The lower snowpack is well-settled.
Weather Summary
Wednesday Night
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow and local amounts of up to 20 cm possible. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.
Thursday
Cloudy with 2 to 5 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Friday
Mix of sun and cloud with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 10 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
- Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
- Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
- Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, or recent avalanches.
- Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
- Remote triggering is a concern; avoid terrain where triggering overhead slopes is possible.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
Riders could trigger large avalanches where the 50 to 80 cm of recent snow is slow to bond to underlying layers of surface hoar and/or a hard crust. Slabs may also be touchy in immediate lee terrain features from new snow and strong wind.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3
Persistent Slabs
It remains possible that humans could trigger surface hoar and/or faceted grains that were buried mid-February, especially at high elevations where a thick crust doesn't exist above it.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 2 - 3.5