Keep the observations coming! Professional data from the Cariboos are scarce at this time of year. Use this bulletin as your initial assessment and continue gathering information as you travel.
Confidence
Low - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Friday night: Isolated flurries bringing a trace of new snow. Light west winds.Saturday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a possible trace of new snow. Light to moderate west winds. Alpine high temperatures around -9.Sunday: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate south winds. Alpine high temperatures rising to about -3.Monday: Cloudy with scattered flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong south winds. Alpine high temperatures to about -1 as freezing levels rise to around 1800 metres.
Avalanche Summary
No avalanches have been reported yet in the region, however early season conditions have been limiting observations of the backcountry.
Snowpack Summary
Light snowfall over Thursday and Friday brought recent storm snow totals to about 30-35 cm and total alpine snowpack depths to around 120-190 cm. The storm snow overlies a widespread layer of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals that formed during the clear period prior to the storm at treeline elevations and above. On steeper solar aspects, this surface hoar layer may instead exist as a thin sun crust below the storm snow. Below this layer, there is a basal crust from late October covering the ground. Snowpack depths taper quickly with elevation and below treeline elevations generally remain below threshold depths for avalanching
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.