Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Boundary, East Stikine, Kispiox, Ningunsaw, Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Stewart, West Stikine.
Look for signs of instability and assess the bond between new snow and the old surface as you move through terrain.
Be ready to back off if there's a weak bond between new snow and the old surface.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
There have been several reports of windslab avalanches up to size 2 at treeline and alpine elevations.
Persistent slab avalanches on the February weak layer have tapered off since earlier this week.
Snowpack Summary
20 cm of new snow is being redistributed by southerly winds. This new snow fell on a widespread layer of large surface hoar crystals, which sits on a crust on solar aspects and at low elevations. This should produce reactive or even touchy surface instabilities.
A layer of facets, surface hoar and/or a crust from mid-February are buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer produced large natural and human-triggered avalanches earlier this week.
The remainder of the snowpack is well consolidated with no concerns at this time.
Weather Summary
Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Monday
Cloudy with 5 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.
Tuesday
Cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -7 °C. Freezing level 700 m.
Wednesday
Cloudy with flurries. 30 - 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C. Freezing level 700 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Be aware of the potential for larger than expected storm slabs due to buried surface hoar.
- Use small, low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
- Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
Recent snow has fallen on a layer of large surface hoar. There continue to be reports of avalanches being initiated on this layer.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Persistent Slabs
Buried persistent weak layers have produced large natural and human-triggered avalanches recently.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 2 - 3.5