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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 30th, 2022–Dec 31st, 2022

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

Shuswap, North Okanagan.

Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency, especially at treeline.

Adopt a conservative approach by sticking to low-consequence terrain.

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

Very few natural occurrences were reported recently, but where avalanches did occur naturally, slabs are ready for triggering. Earlier this week, a large rider-triggered avalanche (size 2) was reported near Sun Peaks. The avalanche released from a persistent weak layer on a thin-thick steep roll.

Please continue to share any observations or photos on the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

About 10-15 cm of light snow is overlying 25 cm of dense storm snow. Under it, there is a wide variety of surfaces; sugary faceted grains, small surface hoar crystals or hard wind-packed snow. Bonding to the old surface may not be strong.

A buried weak layer from November lies 70 to 120 cm below the surface. There is a real potential for small avalanches to step down to this deeper layer.

The majority of the snowpack is faceted, with roughly 120 cm found at treeline and less below treeline.

Weather Summary

A stronger coastal system will spread light snowfalls into the region until late Friday through the weekend. An upper ridge will be bringing widespread subsidence, and therefore fair weather conditions are expected for Monday.

Friday night

Cloudy, isolated flurries 2-5 cm, southwesterly ridge winds up to 40 km/h, treeline temperatures -5° C. Freezing level around 500 m.

Saturday

Mainly cloudy, isolated flurries, northwesterly ridge winds up to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -1° C. Freezing level around 750 m.

Sunday

Mainly cloudy, isolated flurries, northwesterly ridge winds up to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -3° C. Freezing level around 500 m.

Monday

Mainly sunny, no precipitation, southwesterly ridge winds at 20 km/, treeline temperatures around -8 °C. Freezing level at valley bottom.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Pay attention to the wind, once it starts to blow fresh sensitive wind slabs are likely to form.
  • If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
  • Avoid rock outcroppings, convexities, and anywhere the snowpack is thin and/or variable.
  • Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.

Problems

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.

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.