Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain on Monday

A very strong moist southwest flow is expected to bring about 40 cm of new snow to higher elevations in near coastal areas by Saturday night. Expect winds up to 120 km/hr and freezing levels around 1000 metres rising rapidly to near 1500 metres by Saturday evening. The wind is forecast to moderate to about 60 km/hr by Sunday morning and the freezing level should drop back down to about 1000 metres. There is another heavy pulse of precipitation on Sunday that looks like it will be focused on the area South of Kitimat. This system is forecast to bring another 20 cm of snow to higher elevations around Terrace. If this system moves a little further north, Terrace and Bear Pass could see double this amount. The mountainous areas around Smithers are expected to get 15-20 cm by Sunday morning, and another 10-15 cm by Monday morning. Cooler dry air is expected to follow by Monday noon, and continue to influence the Northwest on Tuesday. Freezing levels should be at valley bottoms by Monday night, and we may see cold outflow winds from the northeast by Tuesday.

No new avalanche reports from this region.

The strong southwest wind and snow has begun to develop new windslabs and storm slabs above the recent storm instabilities. There is a rain crust down about 40 cm that exists up to approximately 1000 m. There is now approximately 80 to 120cms of storm snow sitting above a surface hoar/crust/facet layer that was buried mid-December. The increasing depth of this weak layer makes it difficult to trigger. I would not ignore this layer yet, as it could still be triggered by large loads such as rapid loading by new snow or rain or cornice falls. It could also be triggered by riders in shallow snowpack areas or where rocks poke up near the surface. The mid- and lower snowpack layers are well consolidated and generally strong.