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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 16th, 2024–Jan 17th, 2024

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

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

New snow may not be bonding to the cold, wind-affected surfaces below. This could lead to loose avalanches in steep terrain and reactive slabs in pockets of deeper wind-deposited snow.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche activity has been reported since the weekend.

If you head into the backcountry, please consider submitting a MIN report.

Snowpack Summary

New snow is burying previously wind-affected snow surfaces in wind-exposed terrain at treeline and above. The recent cold and clear weather has likely led to widespread facet and surface hoar development which may prolong the bonding of new snow to the underlying surfaces.

An old crust is present down roughly 40 to 80 cm from the surface. In isolated areas, the overlying snow may not be bonding great to this crust.

The lower snowpack consists of several layers of facets, surface hoar, and crusts, none of which appear to be an active concern currently.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow, southwest alpine winds 0 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -10 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow, northeast alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -17 °C.

Thursday

Partly cloudy with no precipitation, east alpine winds 0 to 20 km/h, treeline temperature -17 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with trace snow amounts, southwest alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
  • Be aware of the potential for loose avalanches in steep terrain where snow hasn't formed a slab.

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.