Avalanche forecast

Northwest Coastal

Dec 2 – 3, 2011Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Mon
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–4
    Hard and soft wind slabs are likely in exposed terrain on a variety of aspects well into treeline.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–4
    Give the new snow a couple of days to settle and gain strength before pushing into more committing terrain.

Confidence

Poor - Due to limited field observations

Weather Forecast

Light flurries on Saturday morning should give way to drier conditions as a ridge of high pressure builds over the province. The freezing level should be around 1200-1500m on Saturday and Sunday with moderate W-SW winds. A warm front will cross the area late Sunday bringing light precipitation to some areas through Monday. The freezing level could jump as high as 3000m on Sunday and Monday.

Avalanche Summary

One observer reported hearing a few natural avalanches in the Shames backcountry on Thursday. It appeared that most of these avalanches involved the new storm snow (top 20-30cm). Deeper wind slabs are likely in higher, more exposed terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Very strong SW-NW winds may wreak havoc on the snowpack creating scoured areas and soft or hard wind slabs in exposed lee terrain and cross-loaded gullies or terrain features. Coastal areas are reporting a very deep and strong snowpack - at or near record levels for this time of year. A buried surface hoar layer may be found down 100-150cm near Terrace, but there is no recent information on the presence and sensitivity of this layer.

Regions covered