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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 4th, 2018–Jan 5th, 2018

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Cariboos.

A weak layer is buried at a depth prime to human triggering, particularly in the south of the region. As the overlying snow settles and forms a slab, dangerous avalanches will likely result. Cautious route finding is advised.

Confidence

Moderate - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain

Weather Forecast

FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy with light snowfall over the day and increasing into the night, accumulation up to 5 to 10 cm overnight. Light to moderate southwesterly winds. Freezing level dropping over the day with a possible above-freezing layer above 1800 m and cool valley temperatures.SATURDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, accumulation 5 to 10 cm, light to moderate southerly winds, freezing level near valley bottom.SUNDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, accumulation 2 to 5 cm, light to moderate southwesterly winds, freezing level near valley bottom.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous small loose wet avalanches were observed on southerly aspects in all elevation bands to size 1.5. Slab avalanches are becoming more likely as the upper snowpack begins to settle with warm temperatures and forecasted new snow.

Snowpack Summary

A warming trend and additional snow could create a dangerous slab above buried weak layers. Numerous persistent weak layers exist in the snowpack. Dry snow overlies two layers composed of weak and feathery surface hoar, with the deeper layer (December 15) buried 30 to 60 cm. This layer is found most often at treeline and below treeline. If the dry snow becomes more cohesive and forms a slab, this layer has the potential to create easily-triggerable destructive slab avalanches.The snow surface is variable, consisting of dry snow on shaded aspects, a sun crust on steep solar aspects, and wind effect in exposed alpine and treeline locations.Deeper in the snowpack at depths of about 70 to 100 cm, a rain crust from November is producing variable snowpack test results, from sudden fracture characters to no result. This layer is considered dormant for now, but could be triggered where the snowpack is thin.If you have any recent observations, please share them through the Mountain Information Network.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.