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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 28th, 2025–Jan 29th, 2025

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

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Boundary, Stewart, Kispiox, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw.

Avoid all avalanche terrain.

A deeply buried weak layer may cause large avalanches to run to valley bottom.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

On Monday, there were a few small (size 1) rider-triggered wind slab avalanches that failed on buried surface hoar.

On Sunday, there were a few large to very large (size 2 to 3) persistent slab avalanches that failed during the warm weather on southeast and northeast aspects.

Snowpack Summary

20 to 50 cm of snow is expected to fall by the end of the day Tuesday. This snow comes with southwest wind which will drop more snow into lee areas.

A layer of surface hoar is buried about 50 to 90 cm deep. This layer has been seen on all aspects at all elevations.

Around 130 to 250 cm deep are buried weak layers from December. Consisting of crusts, facets, and/or surface hoar. These layers continue to produce large avalanches.

The lower snowpack is strong, with no layers of concern.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 20 to 35 cm of snow. 30 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Thursday

Clear skies. Calm wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Friday

A mix of sun and cloud. 15 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -16 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy snowfall.
  • As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
  • Very large and destructive avalanches could reach valley bottom.

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.