Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Boundary, East Stikine, Howson, Kitimat, Nass, Ningunsaw, Northwest Coastal, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, West Stikine.
New wind slabs continue to bury weak layers creating a complex avalanche hazard.
Watch for signs of instability throughout the day and stick to low-consequence terrain.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
A size 1.5 storm slab avalanche was triggered by a skier on Thursday near Terrace. This avalanche failed on buried surface hoar, 30 cm deep from a feature near ridge crest.
On Wednesday, a large avalanche cycle occurred. Natural and explosive triggered avalanches avalanches, up to size 3, were reported throughout the region. These avalanches mostly occurred on lee slopes or lee features. One of these avalanches was reported to have failed on buried surface hoar, 50 cm deep.
Snowpack Summary
By the end of the day Sunday, up to another 15 cm of new snow will arrive. This new snow will be redistributed by southwest winds. This will be added to the 20 to 45 cm of snow that fell earlier in the week which was also accompanied by strong south and southwesterly winds.
A buried layer of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals can now be found 25 to 50 cm deep. While another layer of buried surface hoar may exist deeper in the snowpack, roughly 55 to 95 cm below the surface.
The remaining mid and lower snowpack contains several crusts from early in the season that are generally well-bonded to the surrounding snowpack.
Currently, the height of snow is highly variable and decreases significantly at lower elevations.
Weather Summary
Saturday Night
Clear with cloudy periods, potential trace accumulation, ridgetop winds southerly 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.Â
Sunday
Cloudy, 7 to 14 cm accumulation, ridgetop winds southwest 30 km/h, treeline temperature -6 °C.
Monday
Cloudy, 5 cm, ridgetop winds southerly light gusting to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -2 °C.
Tuesday
Cloudy, 10 cm accumulation, ridgetop winds southerly 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -5 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.
- If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
- Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind slabs have likely formed from southwest winds. Wind slabs may be more reactive where they have buried weak layers 30 to 100 cm deep.
In sheltered areas expect to find storm slabs that may be reactive to human triggering.
Aspects: North, North East, East, South East, South, West, North West.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 3