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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 18th, 2025–Jan 19th, 2025

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

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Blue River, Premier, Clemina, Esplanade, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Kokanee, Retallack, Valhalla, Whatshan.

Raise your guard as you reach wind-affected terrain or encounter signs of instability like shooting cracks. Weak grains below the storm snow have led to surprisingly reactive wind slabs.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Last weekend and more sporadically through the week, there have been many accidentally triggered wind slab avalanches, mostly small, but occasionally up to size 2.5. One of these larger releases was triggered by skiers entering a couloir on the north side of Mt English on Wednesday. The early January surface hoar (occasionally sitting on a thin crust) has frequently been noted as the failure plane in these avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

Wind-affected surfaces predominate in open areas at all elevations. Where protected, up to 10 cm of new snow now covers a mid-January layer of crusts below treeline and on solar aspects and surface hoar in the shade.

30 to 50 cm of snow since early January has been settling on a layer of weak surface hoar crystals that exists into the alpine. The presence of slab properties over these grains has been the main factor determining whether it is a problem. Wind slabs formed over it have been reactive.

A crust/facet/surface hoar layer from early December may be found 90 to 160 cm deep. Activity on this layer has tapered, but it is still factoring into professional assessments in the Selkirks north of Kaslo.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries. 10 to 25 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline low temperature around -13 °C.

Sunday

Sunny. 20 to 30 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature -13 °C.

Monday

Sunny. 10 to 15 km/h west or northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature around -12 °C with a possible temperature inversion.

Tuesday

Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing less than 5 cm of new snow. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature around -12 with temperature inversion breaking down.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Seek out sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been affected by wind.
  • Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.
  • Be aware of the potential for remote triggering and large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.

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.