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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 5th, 2019–Jan 6th, 2019

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

Regions

Northwest Coastal.

Use caution with your route selection at higher elevations, as wind slabs have formed on a variety of aspects.

Confidence

Moderate -

Weather Forecast

SATURDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with intermittent snowfall, accumulation trace to 5 cm, light northeast winds, alpine temperature -6 CSUNDAY: Cloudy with flurries, accumulation up to 5 cm, light northwest winds, alpine temperature -5 CMONDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light to moderate southwest winds, alpine temperature -9 CTUESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light east winds, alpine temperature -8

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday, small (size 1) wind slabs were triggered by skiers in wind-loaded terrain features.A natural avalanche cycle occurred during the storm from last Monday to Wednesday, with many large to very large avalanches (size 2 to 3.5) propagating widely and running far. For example, see the MIN reports here and here. Some of the avalanches, particularly in the north of the region, stepped down to the deeper weak layers described in the snowpack summary.

Snowpack Summary

10-15 cm of new snow from Friday night sits on the snow surface in the Terrace area. The upper snowpack varies substantially with elevation. Above around 1400 m, expect to find lingering wind slabs from Tuesday's storm, which dropped upwards of 100 cm of snow with strong southwest winds. Below around 1400 m, the storm began with snow and switched to rain and may have switched back to snow again. It is likely that the wet snow has now frozen into a thick and supportive melt-freeze crust.In the northern part of the region, all this snow may overly a couple weak layers of feathery surface hoar buried near the end of December. Expect to find these layers about 50 to 120 cm deep.For most of the region around 150 to 200 cm deep, a weak layer of sugary faceted snow buried on December 8 may still exist. It is likely that this layer was the culprit of a large, remotely-triggered avalanche on December 30 near Terrace, described in a MIN report here. The likelihood of triggering this layer is decreasing, but it could be triggered by humans in shallow snowpack areas.

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.