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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 12th, 2024–Jan 13th, 2024

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

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus, Sky Pilot.

Northerly winds have built reactive slabs in a reverse loading pattern. Expect wind slabs on south facing slopes near ridgelines and rollovers, and watch for crossloaded features.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday wind slabs were triggered by riders, up to size 2 as northerly winds began to transport snow.

A machine remotely triggered an avalanche on a northeast facing slope at treeline on Tuesday. It's unknown what layer this avalanche failed on, likely within the recent storm snow or on the buried melt freeze crust.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 50 cm of available snow is being redistributed into wind slabs on south facing slopes from these (northerly) arctic winds. Slabs may overly wind affected surfaces or surface hoar in sheltered areas.

A crust is found 60-80 cm deep and becomes thin and variable above 1900 m. Reports suggest this is beginning to break down.

Another crust from early Dec is 80-150 cm deep. A few large avalanches observed in the region on January 6 are suspected of failing on this layer. While reports suggest this layer is becoming less reactive, it is most likely triggered in high-elevation areas where the snowpack is thin and shallow.

Snowpack depths are 120-230 cm around treeline and decrease rapidly below.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Clear skies with northerly winds 10-30 km/h. Treeline temperatures remain around -25 °C.

Saturday

Sunny with northerly winds 15-30 km/h. Treeline temperatures reach -15 °C.

Sunday

Sunny with northerly winds 30-50 km/h. Treeline temperatures reach -10 °C.

Monday

Sunny with northerly winds 10-20 km/h. Treeline temperatures reach -10 °C.

With unusually cold temperatures forecast for this weekend, check out the most recent Forecaster Blog for tips on backcountry preparedness.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • Recent wind has varied in direction so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.