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 16th, 2019–Dec 17th, 2019

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

Expect new snow and strong winds to build reactive slabs, making human triggered avalanches likely.

Confidence

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

Weather Forecast

Monday Night: Flurries and snow, 10-15 cm. Alpine temperature -3 C. Southwest wind 30-40 gusting to 95 km/hr.

Tuesday: Flurries, 5-15 cm. Alpine temperature -3 C. Southwest wind 30 gusting to 90 km/hr.

Wednesday: More flurries, up to 10 cm. Alpine temperature -3 C. South wind 25-35 km/hr.

Thursday: Cloudy and scattered flurries, up to 5 cm. Alpine temperature -6 C. South wind 20-40 km/hr.

Avalanche Summary

There have been no recent reports of avalanche activity.

Snowpack Summary

5-10 cm new snow arriving Monday followed by 15-30 cm accumulating into Tuesday likely covered a weak layer of surface hoar and/or a crust on south-southwest aspects. Strong south-southwesterly winds have redistributed new snow and encouraged slab development, especially in places with deeper deposits.

The new storm snow sits over another 10-20 cm older snow which may cover a concerning layer of surface hoar that formed in areas sheltered from the wind. Reports suggest this layer can be found on all aspects up into treeline. In the alpine, the snow has buried hard wind slabs and/or sun crusts on south-facing terrain.

Snowpack depths are 50-100 cm in alpine areas around Smithers, with depths diminishing rapidly below 1500 m. The relatively thin snowpack has likely caused weak faceted snow to form near the ground.

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.