Avalanche forecast

Northwest Coastal

Dec 3 – 4, 2013Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 13 years ago

Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Data is very limited from this region. If you're out in the snow, please send your observations to [email protected]

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–3
    New wind slabs are likely in exposed lee terrain at all elevations from northerly outflow winds. These wind slabs may be in unusual areas and could be triggered by the weight of a rider. 

Confidence

Poor - Due to the quality of field observations

Weather Forecast

Overnight and Wednesday: Clear and cold. Overnight lows dipping to -10 and daytime highs near -5 at treeline. Winds are moderate to strong from the North-Northwest. Thursday: Mainly sunny. Treeline temperatures should hover between -5 and -10 and winds remain moderate to strong from the North. Friday: Mainly sunny. Temperatures could drop slightly and northerly outflow winds continue.

Avalanche Summary

Recent observations near Shames include a few natural wind slabs to size 1.5 on steep convexities from northerly outflow winds on Monday. Previously a couple large glide slab releases were reported in steep terrain (up to size 3). Expect wind slabs to remain touchy on South and West aspects from continued outflow winds.

Snowpack Summary

Around 40 cm of recent storm snow has fallen in some areas. This new snow may not bond well initially to the previous snow surface, especially where it sits on a crust. Northerly outflow winds picked up on Monday forming dense wind slabs in exposed lee terrain and scouring windward terrain. Rain at lower elevations (below 1000-1200 m) last week saturated the lower snowpack forming a solid rain crust, now down up to 40 cm depending on elevation. Average snowpack depths near treeline are around 100 cm.

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