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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 23rd, 2022–Feb 24th, 2022

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

Regions

Northwest Coastal.

Use caution around ridge crests and convex rolls on all aspects. Windslabs sitting on a hard crust may be triggered by the weight of a rider.

Confidence

High - We have a good understanding of the snowpack structure and confidence in the weather forecast

Weather Forecast

Wednesday Night: Clearing through the night. No new snow expected. Moderate north ridgetop wind, strong at higher elevations. Alpine low around -7 °C.

Thursday: Sunny. No new snow expected. Light northwest wind. Freezing level rising to 500 m. Alpine high around -4 °C.

Friday: Increasing cloud through the day. Possible trace of snow expected. Ridgetop winds increasing to strong from the south by the afternoon. Freezing level around 500 m.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy. 0-5 cm of snow expected over night, and another 5-10 cm through the day. Strong southwest ridgetop winds, trending to extreme at higher elevations. Freezing level rising to between 500 m and 1000 m. 

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday before 4 pm.

On Tuesday, professional operations west of terrace reported a few natural, cornice triggered windslab avalanches up to size 2.5 in the alpine. There were also isolated reports from around the region of natural windslab avalanches up to size 2, and natural and rider triggered sluffing and loose dry avalanches up to size 2 in steep terrain. 

On Monday, natural size 2.5 wind slab avalanches were reported east of Kitimat. Otherwise, avalanche activity was limited to thin size 1 wind slabs and loose dry sluffing up to size 1.5.

On Sunday, several skiers were surprised by a handful of separate incidents of accidentally and remotely triggered size 2-2.5 (large) storm slabs, including the one reported in this MIN. These avalanches slid on the thick crust beneath the most recent storm snow. At least one was on a previously skied slope.

 

Snowpack Summary

On Wednesday, around 10 cm of new snow fell with mostly light winds. This new snow overlies a variety of old, generally wind-affected surfaces.

In the alpine, 30-50 cm of recent, variably wind-affected snow appears to be bonding poorly to the underlying crust. A surface crust exists at elevations below 1300 m.

The 10-30 cm thick rain crust beneath the recent snow effectively caps the underlying snowpack, making human triggering of avalanches on deeper weak layers very unlikely.

Terrain and Travel

  • Recent wind has varied in direction so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
  • Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
  • Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.

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.