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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 24th, 2024–Feb 25th, 2024

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

Regions

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

Large avalanches are likely to occur. Avoid all avalanche terrain.

A dangerously buried weak layer has shown it can be triggered from far away.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Significant avalanche activity is suspected to have occurred on Saturday but no new reports have come in at the time of publishing.

Several small and large (size 2) rider-triggered storm and persistent slab avalanches were reported on Friday. Some were triggered remotely from up to 40 m away.

Snowpack Summary

Another 20 to 40 cm is expected by the end of the day on Sunday. This will add to the 20 to 30 cm that has buried a variety of weak layers including surface hoar, facets, and a crust at low elevations and on south and west-facing slopes.

The widespread crust buried in early February is near the surface on exposed alpine terrain and down up to 70 cm elsewhere. In most areas, this crust has a layer of facets above it.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 35 to 45 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy with 10 to 20 cm of snow. 35 to 45 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. up to 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -13 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly clear skies. 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -17 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Shooting cracks, whumphs and recent avalanches are strong indicators of an unstable snowpack.
  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Only the most simple non-avalanche terrain free of overhead hazard is appropriate at this time.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.