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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 30th, 2023–Dec 31st, 2023

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

North Columbia, South Columbia, Jordan, Shuswap, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, North Okanagan, Whatshan.

Avalanche conditions appear to be improving, but be mindful a buried weak layer may persist within range of human triggering.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Recent avalanche activity in this region has been limited. A couple of size 1 wind slabs have been reported in the alpine.

If you go out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Snowpack Summary

5-10 cm of new snow falls on a well-settled upper snowpack.

The mid snowpack contains a couple of layers of note; a hard crust formed by an early December rain event around 60 cm deep and a layer of surface hoar 60 to 100 cm deep. Where it exists, the crust effectively bridges underlying weak layers, but the surface hoar remains a concern in areas that do not have the overlying crust.

The lower snowpack is variable throughout the region; in shallower snowpack areas, basal facets may exist.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow, ridgetop wind 20 km/h southeast to southwest, treeline temperature -2 °C. Above freezing layer breaking down, freezing level dropping to 600 m.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with 5-10 cm of new snow, ridgetop wind 20 km/h southwest, treeline temperature -2 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy, ridgetop wind 20-30 km/h southwest, treeline temperature -3 °C.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and cloud, ridgetop wind 20-30 km/h variable, treeline temperature -3 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Make observations and assess conditions continually as you travel.
  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.

Problems

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.