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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 12th, 2024–Feb 13th, 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
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Boundary, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw.

Use extra caution on steep slopes at treeline.

Buried surface hoar has been reactive to skiers and even produced remotely triggered avalanches.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Over the weekend several human triggered avalanches up to size 1.5 were reported, these avalanches all failed on the surface hoar and facet layer described in the snowpack summary. Most of these avalanches were at treeline with a few being triggered in the alpine.

Remotely triggered avalanches have also been reported like the one in this MIN.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 20 cm of recent storm snow has been redistributed into wind slabs by westerly winds. In sheltered terrain this snow overlies a layer of surface hoar and facets. A new crust may be found on steep south facing slopes.

Below this is a thick and hard melt-freeze crust extending up to approximately 1700 m. This crust is just buried by the 10 to 20 cm of new snow at lower elevations.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Mostly clear with trace amounts of new snow possible, north alpine wind 25 to 50 km/h, temperature inversion with -1°C at 1500 m and colder temperatures below.

Tuesday

Clear skies  with no new snow expected, northeast alpine wind 15 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -1°C.

Wednesday

Clear skies with no new snow expected, northeast alpine wind 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperature -4°C.

Thursday

Clear skies with no new snow expected, northeast alpine wind 40 to 70 km/h, treeline temperature -4°C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.

Problems

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.

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.