Avalanche Forecast

Moderate - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain

SUNDAY: Scattered flurries with 5-10 cm in the south and 10-20 cm in the north, strong southwest winds, freezing levels dropping to 1200 m.MONDAY: Cloudy with sunny periods, light west winds with moderate gusts, freezing levels dropping with alpine temperatures around -3 C in the south and -7 C in the north.TUESDAY: Isolated flurries with trace accumulations, light north winds, alpine temperatures around -8 C.

On Friday, two skiers were caught in a size 2 wind slab avalanche that carried them down a steep north facing couloir in the Coquihalla area. Old wind slabs are likely lingering in immediate lee terrain, and new wind slabs will likely form on Sunday. Larger wind slabs are expected in the northern areas around Duffey Lake and the South Chilcotins, where there are greater amounts of snow in the forecast and widespread surface hoar on the surface.

SOUTHERN AREAS (e.g. Coquihalla): Light flurries will bury a variety of crusts and settled storm snow with isolated wind slabs lingering on northerly aspects.NORTHERN AREAS (e.g. Duffey Lake): Moderate flurries will bury a hard surface composed of settled storm snow, crusts, and surface hoar. Strong southwest winds will form fresh wind slabs. The upper snowpack has 50-80 cm of settled storm snow sitting above the mid-January surface hoar and facet interface. This interface produced large avalanches during the last storm cycle, and may still be poorly bonded in thin snowpack areas such as the South Chilcotins.