Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Dec 28th, 2015 7:53AM

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

pgoddard, Avalanche Canada

South Columbia.

There is variability across the region due to recent wind effects and the existence of buried surface hoar in some spots. Investigate your local snowpack.

Summary

Confidence

High

Weather Forecast

A cool, dry spell is starting. Expect light northerly winds, a mix of sun and valley cloud and cool temperatures for the foreseeable future.For more details check out http://www.avalanche.ca/weather.

Avalanche Summary

Several small loose dry and very soft slab avalanches have been reported over the last couple of days.

Snowpack Summary

30-50 cm recent dry snow overlies a generally strong snowpack. Some operators report surface hoar buried down about 10-15 cm. You may encounter wind slabs which are sensitive to the weight of a person near ridge tops. Recent storm snow is sluffing readily in steep terrain. One operator near Kamloops is reporting a hard slab sitting on a layer of surface hoar buried down 30-50 cm. This appears to be an outlier, but I would take extra time to investigate the snowpack if you are in the far west of the region.The lower snowpack is reportedly well settled. The early December weak layer (about 80-150 cm down) is spotty in distribution, but where it does exist, still gives hard, sudden results, meaning it is unlikely to be triggered, but could produce a very large avalanche.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Recent winds have shifted snow into slabs behind ridges and ribs. These could be triggered by the weight of a person.

Be cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain. >Use ridges or ribs to avoid pockets of wind loaded snow. >

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 3

Valid until: Dec 29th, 2015 2:00PM