Avalanche forecast

South Coast Inland

Dec 2, 2016Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
No rating
Treeline
No rating
Below
No rating
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Highlights

New snow and strong winds on Friday will build touchy wind slabs in exposed areas. Stick to sheltered areas and be cautious of wind-loaded features. Please post your observations to the Mountain Information Network!

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Wind slabs remain a problem to be managed with careful routefinding and continuous observation. Forecast snow and wind will cause wind slabs to grow larger and more reactive.

Confidence

-

Weather Forecast

FRIDAY: A storm impacting the coast on Friday will deliver 5-15cm of new snow to the South Coast Inland region. Strong southwest winds will accompany the storm with freezing levels reaching as high as 1700m in the late afternoon. SATURDAY: Up to 5cm of new snow will accumulate over the day with moderate westerly winds. Freezing level to 1300m.SUNDAY: Up to 5cm of new snow, clearing in the afternoon. Moderate southwest winds will ease and shift to the northwest. Freezing levels dropping to around 500m.

Avalanche Summary

Although observations in the region have been limited, a report from Tuesday detailed a size 1.5 skier triggered 15-20cm thick wind slab in the alpine on Mt. Joffre. A thin but wide propagation and long runout were noted. Limited reports do not indicate a lack of avalanche hazard! Please post your observations to the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

A light snowfall overnight Tuesday has covered a layer of 15mm surface hoar that was reported on the snow surface in the north of the region on Monday. Treeline snowpack depths are around 140cm in the Duffey Lake area, but closer to 60cm in Coquihalla Pass. Slopes that were loaded by southwest winds during recent storms still hold deep pockets of touchy wind slab. A layer of 3-5mm surface hoar has been observed at approximately 60cm below the surface in the Pemberton area and has produced easy snowpack test results. A thick crust can be found in the mid-pack down roughly 70-100cm at treeline elevations or deeper in the alpine. Moist snow exists in the bottom 50cm of the snowpack.

Regions covered