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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 25th, 2023–Dec 26th, 2023

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

Regions

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

Choose mellow slopes, and avoid being under large alpine features. Dial back your terrain choices if you find more than 30 cm of new snow, conditions vary across the region.

Happy holidays!

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday, a size 1, skier accidental storm slab avalanche was reported near Terrace. This was on a northwesterly feature at treeline.

Professional operations in the region reported evidence of a natural storm slab avalanche cycle up to size 2.5 over the weekend.

If you head into the backcountry please consider submitting your observations to the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

Storm snow continues to accumulate daily over wind affected surfaces in exposed areas and 50 to 70 cm of settling snow in sheltered areas. Generally strong southerly winds are building wind slabs in exposed leeward terrain. South facing slopes (windward), have likely been scoured by the strong winds or have dense, wind packed snow.

Two buried layers of surface hoar are widespread in the mid snowpack, buried 50-100 cm, and 90-130 cm deep.

The remaining mid and lower snowpack contains several crusts from early in the season that are generally well-bonded to the surrounding snowpack. Snow depths are highly variable depending on elevation, and decrease rapidly below treeline.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Cloudy. 10-20 cm of snow expected, up to 40 cm in the area around Kitimat. Strong south ridgetop wind. Freezing level around 1200 m. Treeline temperatures approach -2°C.

Tuesday

Cloudy. 15-20 cm of snow expected west of Terrace, 5-10 east of Terrace. Moderate to strong southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level falling to around 500 m, treeline temperatures around -5°C.

Wednesday

Mainly cloudy. 5-10 cm of snow expected, possibly 20 cm around Kitimat. Strong to extreme southeast ridgetop wind. Freezing levels around 800 m, treeline temperatures around -3 °C.

Thursday

Mainly cloudy. 15-20 cm of snow expected west of Terrace, 5-10 east of Terrace. Strong to extreme south ridgetop wind. Freezing levels rise to around 1500 m, treeline temperatures around 0 °C.

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.
  • As the storm slab problem gets trickier, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
  • Approach steep open slopes at and below treeline cautiously, buried surface hoar may exist.
  • Stick to simple terrain features and be certain your location isn't threatened by overhead hazard.
  • Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 30 cm of new snow.

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.

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.