Avalanche Forecast

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An Arctic front pushes southward on Monday bringing cold, dry conditions for the next few days. A mix of sun and cloud is expected on Monday with light alpine winds from the northwest and treeline temperatures around -15C. Conditions are expected to remain similar on Tuesday and Wednesday with sunny conditions, light northerly winds in the alpine, and treeline temperatures dropping to around -20C.

Observations were limited on Saturday due to the stormy conditions but some size 1 storm slab avalanches were reported in south of the region. The storm snow was also reported to be reactive to ski cutting on steep unsupported features. In the north of the region, a MIN post reports that the storm snow is sluffing easily in wind loaded areas.  On Monday, the storm slabs that formed over the weekend are expected to remain reactive to human-triggering. These storm slabs are expected to be most reactive on north through east aspects in the alpine as a result of recent wind loading.

The weekend storm system brought 40-60cm of new snow to the southern part of the region with strong southwest wind in the alpine.  The resulting storm slabs are thickest and most reactive in leeward features in wind exposed terrain. The mid-November crust appears to typically be down 1-1.5m in the south of the region, and around 80cm down in the north of the region. Test results on this layer suggest the crust is generally well bonded in the Cariboos region. However, test results from the North Columbia region suggest there may be an isolated weakness associated with this layer and it has professionals concerned. It will be important to track how this layer evolves, especially with the upcoming period of cold weather.