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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 1st, 2024–Mar 2nd, 2024

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

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Boundary, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson, Kispiox, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw.

Stick to low-angle, low-consequence terrain and avoid big overhead slopes. Large avalanches continue to be remotely triggered and are propagating widely.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Numerous large and very large natural and human-triggered avalanches have occurred across the region over the last few days. These include several very large (size 3) remotely triggered slabs.

Remote triggers indicate a sensitive snowpack and the need for very conservative terrain choices.

Recent avalanches have occurred on all aspects and at various elevations, on buried weak layers up to 100 cm deep.

Click on the photos below for more details.

Snowpack Summary

Strong winds from various directions have blown 40 to 70 cm of snow that has accumulated over the week. This has created thick and reactive wind slabs at treeline and above.

This snow overlies facets and a crust in many areas, and in isolated areas, buried surface hoar. Soft snow can still be found in lower-elevation terrain that is sheltered from the wind.

A thick crust with weak facets on top is buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer has been problematic, producing very large step-down avalanches.

The recent snow is not bonding well to these underlying weak layers, producing ongoing avalanche reactivity including remote triggering.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Cloudy, with 0 to 3 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -12 °C.

Saturday

Partly cloudy, with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -11 °C.

Sunday

Mostly sunny. 20 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -13 °C.

Monday

Mostly sunny. 20 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -8 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Use conservative route selection. Choose simple, low-angle, well-supported terrain with no overhead hazard.
  • Potential for wide propagation exists, fresh slabs may rest on surface hoar, facets and/or crust.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
  • Caution required around non obvious avalanche terrain like road cutbanks, cutblocks and other non obvious avalanche terrain

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.