Avalanche Forecast

Continued cool temps and a mix of clouds, sun and isolated flurries for early in the week.  

SUNDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with isolated flurries and periods of clear skies, light northwest wind, treeline temperatures around -7C. 

MONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries, light northeast wind, treeline temperatures around -8 C.

TUESDAY: Mainly cloudy with sun breaks and isolated flurries, light to moderate southeast wind, treeline temperatures around -10 C.

WEDNESDAY: Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries, trace to 3cm new snow, light to moderate southeast wind, treeline temperatures around -11 C.

No significant avalanche activity has been reported since Tuesday in the southern and central regions. In the week leading up to Tuesday there were several widespread natural avalanche cycles with size 1-3 storm slabs in the south of the region (see some photos in MIN reports here and here) and some very large size 3-4 deep persistent slab avalanches in the north.

More notable recent avalanche activity continues to be reported in the northern parts of the region (e.g. Stewart or Ningunsaw), including an explosive triggered cornice that triggered a very large avalanche on Saturday which is suspected to have failed on a deep persistent layer near the ground. Late last week another explosive triggered very large avalanche was also triggered on this layer confirming that deep persistent slabs should be on your radar when travelling in these northern regions.

5-15 cm of new snow fell Saturday night and early Sunday with light to moderate south/southeasterly winds. New snow will be available for transport and fresh wind slabs may form in immediate lee of wind affected ridge crests treeline and above. This new snow has buried surface hoar in sheltered locations at and below treeline as well as older wind slabs and wind affect from previous strong west winds. New snow also buries a crust below 1000 m. Glide cracks are beginning to open in isolated below treeline locations and should be cautiously avoided. 

A total of 100-150 cm of settled snow has fallen in January, which has helped strengthen early season weak layers. Deeper layers appear to have gone inactive in the southern part of the region. However in the northern part of the region (e.g. Bear Pass, Ningunsaw) there has still been regular avalanche activity on weak snow at the bottom of the snowpack with large loads such as explosives or cornice collapses.

• Be aware of highly variable recent wind loading patterns.
• Be careful with wind loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and roll-overs.
• Be aware of the potential for larger than expected storm slabs due to the presence of buried surface hoar.
• Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.