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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 20th, 2024–Feb 21st, 2024

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

Regions

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

The chance of triggering an old wind slab on facets is quite low, but that won't matter if you find the sweet spot! Keep up safe travel practices and the extra caution around ridgelines.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday a skier accidentally triggered a large avalanche near Hudson Bay Mountain. It is suspected that this avalanche failed on the same persistent weak layer described in our snowpack summary. Check this MIN post for full details.

A few small natural avalanches were also reported in the Babines.

On Friday, a small ( size 1) skier-triggered size slab avalanche was reported in the Hudson Bay Mountain area. This avalanche failed on the same persistent weak layer.

Snowpack Summary

A variety of conditions can be found in exposed terrain at treeline and above, including crusty and wind affected surfaces. In sheltered terrain, there is up to 5 cm of snow on top of a breakable crust and new surface hoar development.

In isolated areas in the alpine, old, often hard wind slabs overlie a persistent layer of weak, sugary facets above a crust. This has kept some old slabs surprisingly sensitive to human triggering.

The remainder of the snowpack is generally not concerning.

Watch for a MIN from our field team in the Sinclair area on Tuesday!

Weather Summary

Tuesday night

Mainly clear. 5 - 10 km/h northwest alpine wind. Freezing level to valley bottom.

Wednesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 5 - 10 km/h north alpine wind, shifting west and increasing overnight. Treeline temperature -3 °C with freezing level to 700m.

Thursday

Becoming mainly sunny. 20 - 40 km/h west alpine wind, increasing. Treeline temperature around -3 °C with freezing level rising to 700 m.

Friday

Cloudy with flurries bringing about 5 cm of new snow. 50 - 60 km/h southwest alpine winds. Treeline temperature -2 °C with freezing levels to 1100 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully evaluate bigger terrain features on an individual basis before committing to them.
  • Use caution when approaching steep and rocky terrian.

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.