Regions
Northwest Inland.
Large amounts of new snow have fallen in the region. Careful route and terrain selection is essential to safe back country riding.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number and quality of field observations
Weather Forecast
The Northwest Inland should have sunny skies until the next Pacific system arrives on Thursday. Freezing levels will be at valley bottoms overnight and between 1000 and 1500M during the day.
Avalanche Summary
There are numerous reports of large avalanches up to size 4 from yesterday. Commercial operators and Min. of Highways have reported evidence of a large natural cycle that occurred during or towards the end of this last storm..
Snowpack Summary
The amount of storm snow varies from 20 to 125cm across the Inland Northwest region with the largest amounts bing farther north and west. Below the new snow surface, there are a variety of old interfaces; Wind slabs, hard crusts, surface hoar, and/or surface facets. At the base of the snowpack, weak facets may be found and could possibly be triggered with a big enough load such as a cornice failure. In other parts of the province there has been a surge in activity recently on old, buried weak layers that may be attributed to the rapid warming event that just occurred. These old deeply buried layers could produce very large destructive avalanches if they are triggered. Cornices are now getting to be large and potentially unstable. Solar aspects are now a concern, especially in the afternoon.
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.
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.