Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Howson, Kitimat, Microwave-Sinclair, Nass, Northwest Coastal, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Telkwa.
Don't let good skiing lure you into extreme terrain.
Seek out sheltered low-angle terrain for the best riding.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
Recent variable winds created reactive wind slabs on all aspects that have produced several natural and human-triggered avalanches up to size 2.5 in recent days. The wind that is accompanying Saturday night's storm should be expected to produce wind and storm slabs of equal reactivity this weekend.
Observations on Tuesday reported natural avalanche activity that produced avalanches that ranged in size between 1.5 and 4. Our field team reported witnessing several wind slab avalanches up to size 2.5 in extremely steep terrain. Local operators reported wind slab, storm slab, and persistent and deep persistent slab avalanches. The persistent and deep persistent layers have been relatively quiet since February 16th. This is a good reminder that they could still be reactive in certain locations.
On Sunday, a notable skier accidental size 2 storm slab occurred in the backcountry near Terrace. See details in the MIN report.
Snowpack Summary
New snow will be falling on wind slabs created earlier this week. These wind slabs can be found on all aspects and at most elevations.
Up to 80 cm now sits over a layer of small surface hoar, facets, and wind-affected surfaces.
A crust from late January exists around 140 to 180 cm below the surface. Beneath the crust, the snowpack is generally consolidated but as you move further inland there are instabilities found near the ground where the snowpack is thinner.
The total height of snow varies between 450 cm near the coast and 250 cm further inland.
Weather Summary
Saturday Night
Cloudy, snowfall begins to taper up to 5 to 10 cm of accumulation, winds southwest 10 km/h gusting to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures around -9 ºC.
Sunday
Cloudy with possible late-day sunny periods, 1 to 5 cm accumulation, winds, west south 25 km/h, treeline temperatures -9 ºC.
Monday
Cloudy with late day sun, trace accumulation, winds southwest 15 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -10 ºC.
Tuesday
Cloudy with late day sun, 1 to 5 cm of accumulation, winds northeast 15 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -12 ºC.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
- Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.
- Recent wind has varied in direction so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
By Sunday morning much of our region will see significant snowfall amounts. Storm slabs should be expected.
Winds associated with this system will be moving around whatever snow is available so you should also expect deeper-than-expected deposits of snow that will also be reactive.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Loose Dry
Up to 30 cm of new low density light and dry snow overlies stiff old surfaces.
Expect that dry loose avalanches will be certain on very steep terrain. Even a small loose dry avalanche can have enough mass to push a person into or over a terrain trap such as a cliff or depression.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Certain
Expected Size: 1 - 2