Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 23rd, 2024–Mar 24th, 2024

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 unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Cariboos, Blue River, Clearwater, McBride, Premier, Quesnel, Clemina, North Monashee, Renshaw, Robson.

Avoid steep, sun-exposed slopes, especially when the sun is out.

In areas where a thick supportive surface crust does not exist, large slab avalanches may be triggerable.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Friday, a large (size 2.5) naturally triggered persistent slab was reported on a north-facing slope in the North Monashees.

On Thursday a few large (size 2) loose wet avalanches were observed on steep sunny slopes near Valemount.

Looking ahead, in areas where you find a hard and thick surface crust, avalanche activity is unlikely.

Snowpack Summary

On shady, upper-elevation slopes, around 10 to 20 cm of recent snow overlies previous firm surfaces. Expect a thick, supportive crust on the surface at low elevations, and on south and west-facing slopes. This crust may soften and melt during the day as it warms.

Two layers of surface hoar and sun crust may be found in the top meter of the snowpack.

A widespread crust is buried about 70 to 130 cm deep. This crust has a layer of facets above it in many areas, creating a persistent weak layer.

The snowpack below this crust is generally not concerning, except in shallow alpine terrain.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Clear. 30 km/h northeast ridgetop winds. Treeline temperatures drop to -15 °C.

Sunday

Sunny. 10 km/h north ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature high of 1 °C. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.

Monday

A few clouds. 15 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature high of 2 °C. Freezing level rising to 1800 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy. 15 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature high of 2 °C. Freezing level rising to 1800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
Avoid exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes, especially when the solar radiation is strong.
When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.

Problems

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.