Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

Our field team observed a few small wind slabs in the Sinclair area on Wednesday, and several large slab avalanches up to size 2 in the Telkwas on Monday. These all occurred mostly on wind-loaded leeward slopes, with the larger ones failing on the December crust (for more details click the photos below).

Looking forward, we expect both wind slabs and persistent slabs to remain a problem over the coming days.

5 to 10 cm of soft snow blankets harder wind-affected surfaces in the alpine and at treeline. Recent and forecast southeast winds are expected to blow any available soft snow into fresh wind slabs on leeward north through westerly slopes.

Deeper pockets of soft snow should still be able to be found in sheltered terrain and in the trees.

A significant weak layer can be found across the region, buried 30 to 70 cm, depending on wind loading patterns. This layer is made of weak facets overlying a hard crust. We expect this layer to persist as a problem as it continues to be buried even deeper.

The remainder of the snowpack is well settled and bonded.

Wednesday night

Clear. 30 km/ east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -18 °C.

Thursday

Clear, with increasing cloud in the afternoon. 30 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Inversion developing; treeline temperature -16 °C.

Friday

A mix of sun and cloud. 25 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Inversion; treeline temperature -15 °C, alpine -10 °C.

Saturday

Mostly sunny. 10 to 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Inversion; treeline temperature -15 °C, alpine -10 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Pay attention to the wind; once it starts to blow, sensitive wind slabs are likely to form.
• Be especially cautious as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
• Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.