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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 27th, 2024–Jan 28th, 2024

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

Regions

Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Howson.

Warm temperatures and rain may be overloading buried weak layers. Use extra caution if entering avalanche terrain today.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Friday: Size 1 and 2 loose wet, and wet slab avalanches were observed in the alpine out of lee features.

Several small (size 1) loose wet avalanches were also observed in the Shames Mountain backcountry.

Thursday: Two small (size 1) natural and rider triggered wet slabs were observed.

Snowpack Summary

10-20 cm of snow has fallen in region over the last week. This snow is likely very dense, settling rapidly, and moist or wet at treeline elevations and below, where some of this snow fell as rain.

A layer of surface hoar and facets has been found around 30-50 cm deep in some parts of the region. Below this sits a 15 cm thick hard crust. There is potential for the accumulated storm snow / rain and warm temperatures to overload these layers triggering large avalanches.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with 2-9 cm of new snow / light to moderate rain, southwest alpine wind 60 km/h, treeline temperature 1°C, freezing level 1600 m

Sunday

Cloudy with 1-6 cm snow / light rain, southerly alpine wind 80 km/h, treeline high of 4 °C, freezing level 1700 m.

Monday

Cloudy with 10-30 cm of new snow / moderate to heavy rain, southerly alpine wind 70 km/h, treeline temperature 5 °C, freezing level between 1700 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 5-10 cm snow / light to moderate rain, southwesterly alpine wind 40-50 km/h, treeline temperature 2 °C, freezing level 1500m m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • As surface loses cohesion due to melting, loose wet avalanches become common in steeper terrain.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.