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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 3rd, 2024–Feb 4th, 2024

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

Regions

Cariboos, North Columbia, Blue River, Clearwater, McBride, Premier, Quesnel, Clemina, Jordan, North Monashee, Shuswap.

Expect challenging travel navigating refrozen surfaces and old avalanche debris.

At higher elevations, evaluate how new snow is bonding to the crust and avoid freshly wind-loaded areas.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A natural avalanche cycle occurred last week from rain and warm temperatures. Avalanche danger has decreased with cooling temperatures.

As you gain elevation, evaluate how new snow is bonding to the crust and avoid large, steep, convex slopes. Persistent weak layers remain a concern in the alpine where the snowpack was not significantly impacted by last week's warming.

Snowpack Summary

Cooling temperatures have left a surface crust of varying thickness at all elevations. At upper elevations, up to 15 cm of dry snow may exist on top of this crust.

A weak facet/crust layer from mid-January exists down 30-80 cm. A rain crust from early December exists down 100+ cm. These layers may remain a concern in the alpine where they were not significantly impacted by rain and warm temperatures.

The lower snowpack is characterized by weak basal facets in many areas.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Partially cloudy. Alpine wind northeast 5 to 15 km/h. Treeline temperature -6 °C, freezing level dropping to valley bottom.

Sunday

Increasing cloud cover with light flurries in the afternoon. Alpine wind northeast 5 to 20 km/h. Treeline temperature -5 °C, freezing level 800 m.

Monday

Cloudy with light flurries. Alpine wind southeast 10 to 30 km/h. Treeline temperature -6 °C, freezing level 500 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with light snowfall, up to 5 cm accumulation. Alpine wind southwest 15 to 40 km/h. Treeline temperature -5 °C, freezing level 700 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • A crust on the surface will help bind the snow together, but may make for tough travel conditions.
  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
  • Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.

Problems

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.

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.