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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 13th, 2024–Mar 14th, 2024

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Regions

Cariboos, Blue River, McBride, Premier, Quesnel, Clemina, North Monashee, Renshaw, Robson.

UPDATE THURSDAY AT 7:40 AM

Avoid avalanche terrain. Warm temperatures, sun, and a weak snowpack have created very dangerous avalanche conditions.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Monday and Tuesday saw a widespread avalanche cycle up to size 3.5. Numerous natural persistent slab avalanches were reported on all aspects, failing on the early February rain crust with very wide propagation.

Ongoing natural, rider and remotely triggered avalanches persist on this layer.

Snowpack Summary

Recent storm snow totals near 40 to 80 cm across the region with the Cariboo's and eastern ranges near Valemount seeing the higher amounts. The new snow sits on sun crusts and wind-affected snow from previous strong southwest winds. A melt-freeze surface crust exists up to 1900 m.

Two layers of surface hoar and sun crust can be found in the top meter of the snowpack. One from late February and the other from early March.

A thick and hard widespread crust that formed in early February is buried about 70 to 120 cm deep. This crust has a layer of facets above it in many areas.

The snowpack below this crust is generally not concerning except in shallow alpine terrain.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Mix of cloud and clear. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5°C. Freezing levels valley bottom.

Thursday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near -1°C. Freezing level rising to 2000 m.

Friday

Sunny. Mostly light winds but in places gusty to 60 km/h from the northwest at ridgetop. Alpine temperatures high near +2°C. Freezing level rising to 3000 m.

Saturday

Sunny. 15 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Alpine temperatures low of +2°C and a high of +6°C Freezing level rising 3200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain, avalanches may run surprisingly far.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
  • Brief periods of sun could quickly initiate natural avalanche activity.
  • Cornices become weak with daytime heating or solar exposure.

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.