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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 4th, 2023–Jan 5th, 2023

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

Regions

Northwest Inland, Kispiox, Microwave-Sinclair, South Bulkley, South Bulkley, Telkwa.

A persistent weak layer is present at all elevations and could produce large destructive avalanches if triggered. Careful terrain choices are recommended given the uncertainity about this problem.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

A few reports of small (size 1) avalanches have been reported since the weekend. Over the weekend and last week, there were several reports of larger (up to size 2.5) natural avalanches at all elevations releasing on a 30 to 60 cm deep facet layer. Triggering an avalanche on this weak layer is still possible under the current conditions.

Snowpack Summary

Exposed terrain has been affected by southerly winds, while sheltered terrain has 10 to 15 cm of low density snow. This snow may sit above a layer of small surface hoar that will sluff easily in steep terrain. A weak layer of facets that formed during the arctic outbreak in December is buried 30 to 60 cm deep. Recent avalanche activity and snowpack tests suggest human-triggering is possible for this layer. We are uncertain about the layer's spatial distribution, but observations suggest it is fairly widespread.

Weather Summary

Wednesday night

Partly cloudy, no precipitation, 30 to 40 km/h wind from the southeast, treeline temperatures drop to -10 °C.

Thursday

Mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries bringing trace amounts of snow, 20 to 40 km/h wind from the southeast, treeline temperatures warm to -6 °C.

Friday

Cloudy with afternoon flurries brining up to 5 cm of snow, 40 to 70 km/h wind from the southwest, treeline temperatures warm to -5 °C.

Saturday

Mix of sun and cloud, no precipitation, 30 to 50 km/h wind from the south, treeline temperatures around -6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Caution around convexities or sharp changes in terrain.
  • Be especially cautious near rock outcroppings, on steep convexities and anywhere the snowpack feels thinner than average.
  • Avoid making assumptions about this layer based on the presence of aggressive tracks on adjacent slopes

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.