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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 26th, 2023–Jan 27th, 2023

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

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

Use extra caution on steep slopes near ridgecrest where fresh wind slabs are more likely to be found. Increase your exposure to avalanche terrain gradually as you gather information moving throughout the terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday, several natural wet loose avalanches were reported to size 1.5 on steep solar aspects.

On Tuesday, a size 1 skier remote wind slab avalanche was reported in the Whistler area at 1650 m on a north aspect. The bed surface of the avalanche was a crust down 30 cm. Check out the great MIN report for details.

Please continue to share any observations or photos on the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

A melt-freeze crust covers 20-40 cm of settling snow on solar slopes in the alpine. On sheltered polar slopes in the alpine, snow surface is preserved.

A thick crust from mid-January is 40-70 cm found deep. Weak layers exist within the mid and lower snowpack but the thick crusts sitting above them make triggering avalanches on these layers unlikely.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries, 2-5 mm. Northwesterly ridgetop winds 40-60 km/h. 1500m temperature low of -3C. Freezing level of 800 m.

Friday

Mainly sunny. Northwesterly ridgetop winds 20 km/h. 1500 m temperature high of -1 °C. Freezing levels 1400 m.

Saturday

Sunny with cloudy periods. Northeasterly ridgetop winds increase from 20 km/h to 60 km/h throught the day. 1500 m temperature high of -7°C. Freezing levels at valley bottom.

Sunday

Sunny. Moderate northeasterly winds occasionally gusting to 40 km/h. 1500m temperature high -12C. Freezing levels valley bottom.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
  • A crust on the surface will help bind the snow together, but may make for tough travel conditions.
  • Use ridges or ribs to avoid areas of wind loaded 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.