Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 17th, 2019–Dec 18th, 2019

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

Regions

South Coast Inland.

The barrage of storms hitting the coast is not expected to bring much precipitation inland, but be prepared to choose more conservative terrain if new snow exceeds forecast amounts. 

Confidence

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Weather Forecast

TUESDAY NIGHT: - Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace to 5 cm of new snow. Strong southwest winds.

WEDNESDAY - Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures near -5.

THURSDAY: A mix of sun and cloud with flurries beginning overnight. Light to moderate south winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5.

FRIDAY: Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries bringing approximately 5 cm of new snow. New snow totals of 15-20 cm. Light southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -5

Avalanche Summary

Observations are limited in this region, though there was a MIN report of several small human triggered avalanches around the Coquihalla Summit area on Saturday after only 20 cm of new snow had accumulated. Click here to read the report.

By Sunday morning, there was up to 60 cm of new snow in the south of the region. In the absence of new observations, and given the avalanche activity that occurred as we reached 20 cm, it would be wise to choose terrain while assuming a substantial storm slab remains sensitive to human triggering

In the northern part of the region: There have been no avalanches reported in recent days. There may be isolated pockets of wind slab and/or storm slab at higher elevations that could be triggered by humans.

Snowpack Summary

Light new snow amounts have begun to accumulate on the surface, with snowpack conditions that vary greatly from north to south within the South Coast Inland region.

In the south, near the Coquihalla, up to 60 cm of recent snow likely sits on a weak layer of surface hoar. Previous strong winds have likely formed storm slabs that may still be reactive to human triggers. The middle of the snowpack contains a mix of hard crusts and facet/crust layers. Snowpack depths at treeline are about 100-150 cm.

In the north, near the Duffey Lake area the previous storm only brought about 10-15 cm of new snow, which is now sitting on an already very thin snowpack. Snowpack depths at treeline are about 40-50 cm.

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.