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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 18th, 2024–Dec 19th, 2024

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

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, Shuswap, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, North Okanagan, Retallack, Whatshan.

Give the recent new snow some time to settle and bond. There is uncertainty with how a buried layer of surface hoar is reacting to the recent new snow load.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

As of publishing time on Wednesday there were several reports of size 2-3 explosives triggered storm slab avalanches. Other reports indicate numerous natural wind and storm slab avalanches up to size 2.5 running in steep alpine terrain.

There were two reports of size 2 to 2.5 persistent slab avalanches running on northerly aspects between 2200 and 2300 m in the south of the region in the Selkirk range. Both were storm snow avalanches stepping down to buried surface hoar.

Snowpack Summary

15-30 cm of new snow fell Tuesday night through Wednesday and is being redistributed by west southwest winds in the alpine and open treeline.

A surface hoar layer formed in early December is now buried 50 to 90 cm and is most prevalent between the 1700 to 2200 m elevation bands. We're tracking this layer as the load (and resulting slab) builds above it. We may see reactivity increase if the load above reaches a critical threshold.

Weather Summary

Wednesday NightCloudy with isloated flurries, accumulation 1 to 3 cm. 25 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with some sunny breaks. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with scattered flurries, accumulation 5 to 10 cm. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy. 20 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be alert to conditions that change with elevation, aspect, and exposure to wind.
  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.