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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 20th, 2022–Dec 21st, 2022

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 possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

South Coast, North Shore, Sasquatch, Sky Pilot.

Assess for drifts and stiff wind slabs in exposed terrain. Cohesive slabs formed on the surface potentially sit on a weak layer of feathery surface hoar crystals over a crust.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been reported in the past few days.

If you head out into the mountains, please share your photos or observations on the Mountain Information Network. Your information helps us understand local conditions!

Snowpack Summary

Roughly 50 cm of low-density snow has fallen since Sunday. The new snow is generally light, loose, and unconsolidated. This has buried a weak layer of surface hoar over a melt-freeze crust.

The mid and lower snowpack generally consists of layers of well-bonded snow with various melt-freeze crusts. No significant avalanche concerns at the moment.

At treeline the snowpack depth generally is 100 to 170 cm.

Weather Summary

Tuesday night

Clearing, with a trace of snow. Temperatures around -15 C and moderate Northeast winds in the alpine.

Wednesday

Sunny with periods of cloud, and no precipitation. Temperatures -10 to -20 C and light to moderate Northeast winds.

Thursday

Sunny with periods of cloud, and no precipitation. Temperatures -15 to -25 C and light Northeast winds.

Friday

Cloudy with snow, up to 30 cm. Temperatures of 0 to -5 C, and moderate to strong Southwest winds. Freezing levels rise to around 1000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.

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.