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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 20th, 2024–Jan 21st, 2024

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 unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Below Threshold.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

Cariboos, North Rockies, McBride, Quesnel, Sugarbowl, Kakwa, McGregor, Pine Pass, Renshaw, Robson.

New snow may be hiding buried wind slabs in the alpine and treeline.

Be cautious in areas that look wind loaded, pillowed, or extra thick.

Confidence

No Rating

Avalanche Summary

A few small (size 1 to 1.5), isolated wind slab avalanches were observed in alpine terrain across the region on Wednesday and Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

10 cm of new snow is now resting on a previous 20 cm that was redistributed by strong northeast wind. This upper 30 cm of recent snow may bond poorly to underlying layers of surface hoar, faceted snow, and wind-pressed snow.

A prominent crust is found 30 to 50 cm deep. It extends up to 1900 m in the Cariboos and up to 1400 m around Pine Pass. At this point, the only potential concern with this layer is for areas east of Quesnel and Williams Lake, where a layer of small surface hoar has been observed near the crust.

The midpack is reportedly strong and bonded.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine wind 20-40 km/h, treeline temperature -8 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy with up to 3 cm snow, southwest alpine wind 20-30 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Monday

Cloudy with up to 3 cm of snow, southwest alpine wind 30-40 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C, except 0 °C around Wells/ Barkerville with an AFL to 1500 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow, southwest alpine wind 20-50 km/h, treeline temperature -12 °C, except 0 °C around Wells/ Barkerville with an AFL to 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Use ridges or ribs to avoid areas of wind loaded snow.
  • Investigate the bond of the recent snow before committing to your line.
  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.

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.