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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 18th, 2024–Feb 19th, 2024

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
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.
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.

Check for the presence of buried weak layers before committing to steep, high-consequence terrain.

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 persistent weak layer described in the 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 also failed on the 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 isolated areas in the alpine, hard wind slabs overlie a persistent layer of weak sugary facets above a crust, and continue to be susceptible to human triggering. In sheltered terrain, there is up to 5 cm of snow on top of a breakable crust and new surface hoar development. The remainder of the snowpack is generally not concerning.

Check out this MIN from our field team in the Babines.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, no precipitation, 15-20 km/h variable alpine wind, treeline temperature -6°C.

Monday

Mix of sun and cloud, no precipitation, 10 km/h southwest alpine wind, treeline temperature -3°C, freezing level 600 m.

Tuesday

Sunny, no precipitation, 15 to 20 km/h northwest alpine wind, treeline temperature -3°C, freezing level 700m.

Wednesday

Sunny, no precipitation, 10-15 km/h northwest alpine wind, treeline temperature -2°C, freezing level 700m.

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.
  • Keep in mind that human triggering potential persists as natural avalanching tapers off.
  • Rocks will heat up with daytime warming and may become trigger points for loose wet avalanches

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.