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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 12th, 2024–Mar 13th, 2024

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Regions

Cariboos, Blue River, McBride, Premier, Quesnel, Clemina, North Monashee, Renshaw, Robson.

Natural avalanche activity could spike on slopes facing the sun.

Rider and remote triggering of large avalanches are an ongoing concern. Choose conservative, low consequence terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Monday, a widespread avalanche cycle occurred up to size 3.5. Numerous natural persistent slab avalanches were reported on all aspects, failing on the early February rain crust.

Ongoing natural, rider and remotely triggered avalanches persist on this layer. Avoid solar slopes when the sun is out.

Snowpack Summary

Tuesday morning saw, 5 to 20 cm of new snow, bringing recent storm snow totals near 40 to 60 cm across the region with the Cariboo's seeing the higher amounts. The new snow sits on sun crusts and wind-affected snow from previous strong southwest winds.

Two layers of surface hoar and sun crust can be found in the top meter of the snowpack. One from late February and the other from early March.

A thick and hard widespread crust that formed in early February is buried about 70 to 120 cm deep. This crust has a layer of facets above it in many areas.

The snowpack below this crust is generally not concerning except in shallow alpine terrain.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Clear periods with isolated flurries. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10°C. Freezing levels valley bottom.

Wednesday

Mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near -8°C. Freezing level rising to 1400 m.

Thursday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near -3°C. Freezing level rising to 1600 m.

Friday

Sunny. 15 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near 0°C. Freezing level rising to 2000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Conservative terrain selection is critical, choose only well supported, low consequence lines.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
  • Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
  • If triggered loose wet avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

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.

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.