Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather system is uncertain on Sunday

10-15 cm of new snow is forecast overnight with strong southerly winds and freezing levels around 200 metres. Another 5-10 cm is forecast during the day Sunday with moderate westerly winds. The south of the region around Kitimat may see enhanced snowfall as the low pressure moves onshore in the central coast. Continued light snow on Monday with slightly higher freezing levels near 500 metres. Tuesday mostly flurries with cooler temperatures and a chance of broken skies.

No new avalanches reported. Extensive wind effect reported in the alpine and at treeline.

New snow continues to slowly build the load above buried weak layers. There is 15-25 cm above the December 17th (151217 SH) surface hoar, and 25-40 cm above the December 14th (151214 SH). At this time, the new snow continues to come in cold and dry and may not have the load needed to settle into a cohesive slab above these weak layers. The early December layer buried on the 1st or 2nd (151201 SH) is now down a metre or so depending on your area. This layers distribution is variable. In some areas, this layer may be sensitive to human triggering and wide propagations while in other areas it is non-existent or has gained significant strength. Most of this information is coming from the Shames area or from commercial operations near Terrace. Conditions may be different close to Kitimat, where it looks like recent snowfall amounts may be a bit higher and temperatures a bit warmer. The north of the region has a shallow early season snowpack and may have weak facetted crystals near the ground due to cold temperatures over a thin snowpack.