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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 29th, 2023–Jan 30th, 2023

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

Regions

Northwest Inland, Kispiox, Microwave-Sinclair, Ningunsaw, South Bulkley, South Bulkley, Telkwa.

Expect hard wind slabs to linger in exposed alpine terrain. While numerous buried weak layers demand careful terrain selection.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

The recent cold weather has tightened and stabilized the upper snowpack, reducing the number of avalanche activity.

Backcountry users continue to report evidence of a significant avalanche cycle during the recent warm, wet, and windy weather early in the week. The majority of these avalanches were wind slabs, however, a number of avalanches stepped down to buried persistent layers, creating large, scary avalanches, like this one in the Telkwa area from Friday.

If you are out in the backcountry please consider filling out a Mountain Information Network report.

Snowpack Summary

Recent strong winds have stripped northerly aspects throughout the alpine, redistributing the snow into pockets of wind slab on lee, southerly terrain. While at lower elevations a widespread, supportive, melt-freeze crust exists on the surface up to roughly 1900 m and has prevented the wind from transporting much snow.

The mid and lower snowpack continues to bond and stabilize while a number of buried weak layers remain a concern and have produced a number of large recent avalanches.

Weather Summary

Sunday night

Clear, no precipitation. Treeline temperatures 0 to -5 C, with alpine temperature inversion. Moderate northwest alpine winds.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud, with afternoon flurries, 2 to 5 cm. Treeline temperatures -5 to -10 C. Moderate to strong west alpine winds.

Tuesday

Cloudy with flurries, 2 to 5 cm. Treeline temperatures -5 to -10 C. Moderate to strong southwest alpine winds.

Wednesday

Cloudy with flurries, 2 to 5 cm. Treeline temperatures -5 to -10 C. Moderate southwest alpine winds.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Expect slab conditions to change drastically as you move into wind exposed terrain.
  • Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.

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.