Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Due to the number and quality of field observations

Tuesday: Another storm makes landfall on the northwest coast, the inland northwest could see 10 to 15cm of new snow at upper elevations with strong southwest winds at ridge top.Wednesday: Cool arctic air moves into the region bringing freezing levels down to valley bottoms.Thursday:  Temperatures remain cold with light precipitation, 5 to 10cm forecast for the region.

No avalanches have been reported. This likely speaks more to the lack of observations than actual conditions. Strong winds, new snow, and warm temperatures are expected to increase the sensitivity to triggering by skiers and sledders.

Reports from the area are quite sparse. There is significant variation in snow depths across the region. In the Smithers area, reports suggest snow depths of 70-90cm at treeline.The northern portion of the region received more snow (upwards of 20cm) than the south (Smithers area) which received 10 to 20 cm overnight. In areas that received significant new snow amounts, the snow is settling into a storm slab, accelerated by the recent warm temperatures. Very strong winds are transporting snow into deep pockets of cohesive, wind pressed snow. Cold temperatures at the beginning of December created near surface facetted snow and surface hoar above old wind and melt-freeze crusts. The new warmer storm snow is not expected to bond well to these old buried layers which range from 20-40cm below the surface. The mid and lower snowpack is weak, composed of facets, depth hoar and an early season crust near the base of the snowpack.If you have been out, we would love to hear about it. Please send your observations to [email protected].