Avalanche Forecast

Low - Due to the number of field observations

Sunday: Cloudy with a chance of flurries and sunny breaks late in the day. The freezing level is near valley bottom. Winds are generally light. Monday: A mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level is near valley bottom and ridge winds are light or moderate from the NW. Tuesday: A mix of sun and cloud. The freezing level is at valley bottom and ridge winds are light or moderate from the NW.

There have been very few recent observations, although one report indicated numerous avalanches to size 3 occurred in low elevation terrain in the far west of the region. These avalanches likely occurred on Tuesday or Wednesday and failed in response to rain and warming below treeline. With forecast cooling, this type of activity should taper-off. Expect recently formed wind slabs to be sensitive to human triggering at higher elevations.

Generally light amounts of new snow fell in the mountains around Smithers this week, while closer to 50 cm fell in areas further west. Strong winds may have redistributed much of this new snow into reactive wind slabs at higher elevations. Lower elevations likely have a dusting of new snow on a hard rain crust. There is a notable persistent weakness of buried surface hoar in many places, generally found between 25 and 60 cm deep. Wind and milder temperatures may have helped to promote slab development in the snow overlying this interface. Stay tuned to signs of instability like recent avalanches, whumpfing (reported in a few areas), and shooting cracks. The mid pack was reported to be well settled, although various levels of faceting can be certainly be expected in the lower snowpack.