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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Nov 27th, 2022–Nov 28th, 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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Powell River, Spearhead, Tantalus.

Assess conditions as you travel - snow may hide reactive slabs or, more likely, early-season hazards.

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

On Sunday, explosives triggered size 1-2 storm slabs and a size 1.5 natural storm slab avalanche was reported.

Snowpack Summary

10-30 cm snow accumulated by Sunday morning at upper elevations, and strong southwest winds quickly impacted any loose snow in open and exposed terrain.

Recent snow covered a crust at upper elevations and to moist snow lower down. Where the snowpack is growing, a weak drought layer is down 20-50 cm. This layer consists of hard, wind-affected snow in the alpine, surface hoar or facetted snow in sheltered areas, and a crust on solar aspects and on all aspects below 2200 m. Below this layer, several other facet-crust interfaces exist in the snowpack.

Terrain features poke through a building snowpack that ranges from 80-150 cm in the alpine and 50-70 cm at treeline. Below treeline is below the threshold for avalanches.

Weather Summary

Sunday night

Cloudy with isolated flurries, trace accumulation and clearing overnight. Light to moderate north wind, treeline low temperatures -20 C, and freezing level valley bottom.

Monday

Sunny and cold. Light to moderate northeast wind, treeline high temperatures -9 C.

Tuesday

Cold with a mix of sun and cloud and isolated flurries. Light northeast wind, treeline temperature -12 C.

Wednesday

Incoming precipitation and wind, 20-30 mm, strong southwest wind, treeline temperatures rising to -4 C, freezing level rising above valley bottom.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for areas of hard wind slab on alpine features.
  • Back off if you encounter whumpfing, hollow sounds, or shooting cracks.
  • Seek out sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been wind-affected.

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.