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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 8th, 2024–Mar 9th, 2024

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Inland, Boundary, Kispiox, Microwave-Sinclair, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw, North Bulkley, South Bulkley, South Bulkley, South Bulkley, Telkwa.

New snow and wind are increasing the chance of triggering deeper weak layers. As the storm slab problem gets trickier the solution is to seek out more conservative terrain to ride.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Several avalanche reports and reactive snowpack tests through the week have indicated that storm slabs and persistent avalanches are a concern. On Friday skiers in the Blunt Range were able to ski cut size 1 slabs on north facing slopes and reported a lot of whumpfing and shooting cracks.

Looking forward to Saturday, new snow and wind are making it more likely for a large avalanche to be triggered by a human.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find 20 to 35 cm of soft, fresh snow in sheltered areas. Moderate to strong winds may be forming fresh, reactive slabs in leeward terrain.

The new snow covers wind-affected snow or crusts. At lower elevations below treeline, the upper snowpack may be moist or wet.

There are a variety of weak layers in the upper snowpack that could produce larger avalanches. Most concerning is a layer of weak, faceted crystals sitting on a crust 40 to 80 cm below the snow surface, seen in the snow profile photo below.

The lower snowpack is generally well-bonded and strong.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Cloudy. 2 to 8 cm of snow expected. 30 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline low around -4 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy. 0 to 2 cm of snow expected. 30 km/h westerly ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -5 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy. 0 to 3 cm of snow expected. 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -3 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy. 0 to 2 cm of snow expected. 30 to 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline high around -1 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Storm snow and wind is forming touchy slabs. Use caution in lee areas in the alpine and treeline.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.