Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Mar 1st, 2016 9:02AM

The alpine rating is moderate, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Wind Slabs.

Avalanche Canada esharp, Avalanche Canada

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Northwest Coastal.

Variable winds and new snow have form reactive slabs on all aspects. Watch out for reverse loaded features.

Summary

Confidence

Moderate - The weather pattern is stable on Wednesday

Weather Forecast

 WEDNESDAY: flurries, light to moderate southerly winds, 1200m freezing level. THURSDAY: flurries, moderate to light southerly winds, 1000m freezing level. FRIDAY: flurries, moderate southerly winds, 1400m freezing level.

Avalanche Summary

Explosive control north of Stewart produced storm slab avalanches up to size 2 on Sunday and Monday.  In the far north of the region several natural avalanche son Monday steped down the to the early February crust almost 1m down.  A cornice failure also triggered an avalanche on this layer just north-west of Terrace.

Snowpack Summary

Strong east winds on Tuesday will have reverse loaded lee features in the alpine and at treeline.  Up to 80cm of new snow now sits on a crust below treeline and on sunny aspects at higher elevations.  Surface hoar was also reported in isolated sheltered and shady locations.  Below this an older crust buried in early February extends up to about 2000m and can now be found around 1 meter down.  The layer of surface hoar buried late in January may be found in isolated locations.  We haven't heard about any recent avalanche activity on this interface for a while, and it is no longer a concern for avalanche operations in the region.  

Problems

Wind Slabs

An icon showing Wind Slabs
Given the recent strong winds I suspect that you can find wind slabs on all aspects in the alpine and at treeline.  Some recent avalanches have run on a buried crust around a meter down.
Avoid freshly wind loaded features.>Avoid travelling in areas that have been reverse loaded by winds.>Be aware of the potential for wide propagations due to the presence of hard windslabs.>

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 4

Valid until: Mar 2nd, 2016 2:00PM

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