Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 14th, 2024–Mar 15th, 2024

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

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 and human triggered avalanches likely.

Regions

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

Avoid avalanche terrain during time of rapidly rising freezing levels.

Unseasonably warm weather will trigger large and very avalanches over the next few days.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday, large persistent slab and wind slab avalanches (up to size 2.5) occurred naturally on east slopes at treeline and alpine, respectively. Whumpfs and shooting cracks were also observed at treeline and below. Over the last week, skiers were surprised by large avalanches; several were remotely triggered from a distance from low-angle or flat terrain. Expect increasing avalanche activity with the incoming warm weather.

Snowpack Summary

Expect to find up to 20 cm of settled snow in wind-sheltered and shady areas. This snow covers wind-affected surfaces or a hard crust at upper elevations. The wind has scoured down west alpine slopes to a crust. A layer of weak, faceted crystals over a crust, or surface hoar, is the primary layer of concern, buried around 40 to 80 cm. This layer has been reactive, especially at treeline and below, over the last week.

A sun crust has formed on the surface on steep south and west-facing slopes, and snow is heavier and moist at lower elevations.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Cloudy with 2 to 4 cm of new snow expected. 50 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures around 0 °C. Freezing level around 1500 m.

Friday

Mainly cloudy with no precipitation, 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures around +6 °C. Freezing level rising to 2500 m.

Saturday

Cloudy and sunny periods with no precipitation. 25 to 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures around +8 °C. Freezing level rising to 3000 m.

Sunday

Mix of sun and clouds with no precipitation, 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures around +6 °C. Freezing level around 2500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain as temperatures increase.
Persistent slabs have potential to pull back to lower angle terrain.
As surface loses cohesion due to melting, loose wet avalanches become common in steeper terrain.

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.