Avalanche Forecast

Fair - Due to the number of field observations

Looks pretty pleasant Monday and Tuesday. The freezing level should stay at the valley bottom, there will likely be periods of sunshine and winds should be light at all elevations. The next storm system starts to affect the region Tuesday night. This one is a bit warmer, the freezing levels will likely climb throughout the storm, winds are once again expected to be strong SW at ridgetop and 1 to 5cm are expected Tuesday Night. Look for another 1 to 5cm Wednesday and an additional 5 to 10cm Wednesday night.

On Saturday we received observations of the recent storm cycle which featured natural avalanches to size 3. The details are a bit fuzzy, but it sounds like most of this activity was limited to mid-storm instabilities. There is a good video of ski cut easily triggering a slab avalanche in seemingly benign terrain on the Bulkley Backcountry Ski Society facebook page too.

The storm has produced approximately 30 to 70cm of dry low density snow accompanied by strong to extreme winds out of the E through SE. There are a number of weak layers in our snowpack, this storm has been a good test for all of them. Clear skies the next few days should allow operations to get out and see some terrain. Once those observations start trickling in we should have a better feel for which layers are players, and which interfaces have gone dormant/inactive. I'm curious about all the following layers: The early February surface hoar, (little is known about the distribution of this interface.) The late January crust, probably down 75 to 150cm in the south, likely shallower in the north. The mid-January rain crust (with some spatially spotty surface hoar on top), probably down 100 to 200cm.  And finally, the crust/facet combination from November which is near the ground. It's not an easy snowpack to work with, we'd greatly appreciate your observations via the Mountain Information Network.