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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 19th, 2023–Dec 20th, 2023

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

Regions

South Columbia, Shuswap, Badshot-Battle, Goat, Gold, North Okanagan, Whatshan.

Buried surface hoar remains the primary avalanche concern, and may be prone to human-triggering where present.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Despite the lack of reported avalanche activity, the buried surface hoar continues to cause concerning results in snowpack tests and shows signs of instability like whumpfs and shooting cracks.

If you go out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Snowpack Summary

The upper snowpack continues to settle and stabilize with mild temperatures and minimal wind. A layer of recently buried surface hoar in the upper 30 cm may persist in wind-sheltered terrain. A crust formed during the early December rain event exists down roughly 30 to 60 cm from the surface and is highly variable in strength, and thickness at this time.

A concerning layer of buried surface hoar is 60 to 100 cm below the surface at treeline and above.

Lower snowpack is generally facetted, with no particular layers of concern currently. The height of snow at treeline is roughly 80 to 150 cm.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -3 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, west alpine winds 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 40 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.

Friday

Cloudy with 2 to 5 cm of snow, south alpine winds 40 to 50 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Uncertainty is best managed through conservative terrain choices at this time.
  • Use caution when approaching steep and rocky terrian.
  • Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.

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.