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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 24th, 2022–Dec 25th, 2022

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

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

Accumulating snow and wind continue to produce slabs primed to avalanche.

Keep terrain choices conservative and give the snow time to settle.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Since early Saturday morning, there have been numerous reports and observations of widespread natural and human-triggered avalanche activity. This has been from storm slabs, wind slabs, and loose dry avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

Between Friday to Sunday morning, up to 60 cm of snow may have accumulated. Storm slabs are likely to form as the air temperature warms. The new snow may not bond well to the variety of surfaces that it overlays. These include hard wind-packed snow in exposed alpine, crust on steep sun-exposed slopes, small surface hoar crystals in wind-sheltered areas, and sugary facet crystals in other areas.

Numerous other problematic layers exist in the top 40 to 100 cm of the snowpack, consisting of surface hoar, faceted grains, and/or a crust. Avalanches have been most prominent between 1700 and 2200 m and on all aspects. Read our forecaster blog for managing a persistent slab problem.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy, 10 to 20 cm accumulation, 20 to 45 km/h southwest wind, treeline temperatures -8 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy, 5 to 10 cm accumulation, 25 to 35 km/h southwest wind, treeline temperatures -7 to -2 °C.

Monday

Cloudy, 10 to 22 cm accumulation, 25 to 45 km/h south southwest wind, treeline temperatures -5 to 1 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy, 10 cm accumulation, 25 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperatures -8 to 1 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Good day to make conservative terrain choices.
  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.