Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Babine, East Stikine, Hudson Bay, Kispiox, Microwave-Sinclair, Northwest Inland, Telkwa.
New snow may not bond well to underlying crusts. Use caution as you transition into places where wind slab is forming and in features where storm slabs have settled and stiffened.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
A few new small wind slab avalanches have been reported in the region.
Backcountry users continue to report evidence of a significant avalanche cycle during the recent warm, wet, and windy weather last week. The majority of these avalanches were wind slabs, however, a number of avalanches stepped down to buried persistent layers, creating large, scary avalanches, like this one in the Telkwa area from Friday.
If you are out in the backcountry please consider filling out a Mountain Information Network report.
Snowpack Summary
There is now up to date 35 cm of storm snow over top of crusty surfaces from recent warming on January 25th. Some of this snow has been blown into wind slabs that can be easily triggered.
The mid and lower snowpack continues to bond and stabilize while a number of buried weak layers remain a concern and have produced a number of large recent avalanches.
Weather Summary
Wednesday night
Cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of new snow. Wind from the south at 25 km/h. Temperature -8 C.
Thursday
Cloudy. 10 cm of new snow. Wind from the south up to 30 km/h. Temperature -4 C.
FridayMostly cloudy. 5 cm of new snow. Wind from the up to 30 km/h. Temperature 0 C.
SaturdayMostly cloudy. 5 cm of new snow. Wind from the up to 30 km/h. Temperature 0 C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Wind slabs are most reactive during their formation.
- Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
- Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
- In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
New snow has been blown in touchy wind slabs in lee and cross loaded features. Use caution in wind affected features and monitor for stiff snow and or shooting cracks.
Aspects: North, North East, East, North West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely - Very Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5
Persistent Slabs
A number of buried weak layers remain possible to trigger. These layers appear to be most problematic in upper treeline and alpine elevations, in shallow, variable, rocky start zones.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 2 - 3