Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Jan 1st, 2017 4:11PM

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

jfloyer, Avalanche Canada

South Coast Inland.

Cold north winds have been blowing. Watch for fresh wind slabs, particularly on southerly aspects.

Summary

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

MONDAY: Dry and sunny. Winds northeasterly 20-30 km/h at ridgetop. Ridgetop temperatures around -16C. TUESDAY: Dry and sunny. Winds northeasterly 15-25 km/h. Temperatures around -18C. WEDNESDAY: Dry and sunny. Winds northeasterly 40-60 km/h. Temperatures around -16C.

Avalanche Summary

A loose snow avalanche was human-triggered in steep terrain in the Coquihallas on Saturday resulting in the loss of a ski.

Snowpack Summary

The critical parts of the snowpack under current conditions are wind slabs in exposed areas, and, for low snow areas such as the Chilcotins, a layer of faceted snow from mid-December that in those areas is buried under about 50 cm of snow. Most parts of the region saw 60-90 cm new snow last week, which is reported to be generally bonding well. A facet/surface hoar layer was buried on Boxing Day (surface hoar up to 5 mm was observed in the Duffey Lake area), but does not seem to have turned into a major concern. The mid-December interface is now down over 1 m in most parts and is generally considered to be stable, except in shallow snowpack areas as mentioned above, where snowpack tests indicate it could still be a viable failure plane.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Fresh wind slabs are forming on mainly south to west aspects behind exposed terrain features. Slabs found on south aspect slopes could become more unstable when the sun is out.

Minimize exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.Use safe ski cutting techniques before entering steep lines.

Aspects: North, North East, East, South East.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible

Expected Size

1 - 2

Valid until: Jan 2nd, 2017 2:00PM