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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 7th, 2013–Dec 8th, 2013

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

Regions

Cariboos.

Confidence

Fair - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

The cold arctic ridge of high pressure will persist over the interior regions for the next several days.Sunday: Temperatures around -25C, increasing cloudiness during the day, light snowfall possible, moderate to strong alpine winds from the NorthMonday/Tuesday: A slight warming trend but cold temperatures will persist, mostly cloudy with light snowfall possible, moderate to strong alpine winds from the North

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanches have been reported but incoming field data is still very limited. Neighbouring regions have had no new reports since Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

Snowpack depths are likely highly variable across the region, with elevation, and in wind-exposed areas. Low-elevation and wind-affected areas likely have a shallow faceted snowpack. While in higher elevation sheltered areas 30-50 cm of recent storm snow overlies a variety of old snow surfaces including surface hoar in sheltered areas and/or sun crust on steep south facing slopes. In some neighbouring areas the buried surface hoar is giving easy to moderate sudden planar compression test results, while elsewhere the storm snow has yet to settle into a sufficiently cohesive slab. There are two distinct weaknesses within the mid and lower snowpack: the early November surface hoar/facet/crust interface is down roughly half way (50-60cm) and the October rain crust is near the ground. Recent snowpack tests gave easy results on the early November mid-pack interface where it was found to be facets under a crust. Cold clear weather is likely promoting surface hoar growth and near surface faceting.

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.

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.