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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 13th, 2024–Dec 14th, 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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Boundary, Kitimat, Rupert, Shames, Stewart.

When the wind picks up, slabs are likely to form on lee slopes. Buried surface hoar may make these slabs more reactive.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Friday and Thursday, north of Stewart, several explosive and skier-triggered wind slab avalanches were triggered up to size 1.5. With more snow and moderate wind in the forecast, triggering wind slab avalanches will remain possible, especially in areas where they overlie surface hoar.On Wednesday, a small loose wet skier-triggered slide occurred near Shames. With the cooler temperatures, loose wet slides are now unlikely.

Snowpack Summary

3 to 10 cm is expected to fall overnight and throughout the day Saturday. This will fall on around 10 cm of old storm snow from last Thursday, which may overlie surface hoar or facets.

At treeline, the old storm snow may be moist and is overlying a thick rain-crust.

The mid and lower snowpack are not concerning at this time, and are made up of various hard layers, or moist snow at lower elevations.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Cloudy with 1 to 5 cm of snow. 25 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with 2 to 4 cm of snow. 25 to 35 km/h variable ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Sunday

Partly cloudy. 25 to 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud. 30 to 40 km/h southeast then east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Surface hoar distribution is highly variable. Avoid generalizing your observations.
  • Pay attention to the wind; once it starts to blow, sensitive wind slabs are likely to form.

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.