Avalanche Forecast

The next storm arrives Saturday night.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear skies, moderate wind from the west, alpine temperatures drop to -12 C.

SATURDAY: Cloudy with some light flurries and trace amounts of snow, 30-50 km/h wind from the southwest, alpine high temperatures around -5 C.

SUNDAY: A frontal system crossing the region brings 10-20 cm of new snow, strong wind from the south, and alpine high temperatures around -3 C.

MONDAY: Stormy weather continues overnight then clears midday, strong wind from the west, alpine high temperatures around -5 C.

Observations are limited but the combination of snow and wind over the past few days has almost certainly formed wind slabs in open terrain. On Thursday there were reports of some small (size 1) wind slabs on wind-loaded east aspects.

Please submit your observations to the Mountain Information Network!

Recent storms delivered moderate amounts of snow (5 cm around Smithers and up to 20 cm further west) with strong wind from the southwest. Expect heavily wind affected snow in open terrain and watch for unstable slabs on slopes that have been loaded by the wind. Snowpack depths range from 60 cm in eastern parts of the region up to over 100 cm in western parts of the region. Lower elevation terrain may still be below the threshold for avalanches. Reports suggest the bottom half of the snowpack consists of crusts, and in some cases some weak snow may be developing around these crusts. This will be a layer to monitor as the season progresses.

• Be careful as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Be especially cautious near rock outcroppings, on steep convexities and anywhere the snowpack feels thinner than average.