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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 6th, 2023–Dec 7th, 2023

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

South Okanagan, Shuswap, North Okanagan.

Use caution in steep terrain at high elevations where storm slabs could be triggered. Early-season conditions prevail.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

We expect that many avalanches occurred in the region over the past few days from wet, stormy conditions. Looking forward, riders could trigger storm slab avalanches in steep terrain features at high elevations.

Snowpack Summary

Around 10 to 20 cm of snow likely accumulated at higher elevations, particularly in the southern extent of the region. This snow sits on wet snow that will slowly freeze into a hard melt-freeze crust.

A spotty surface hoar layer may be found about 20 to 30 cm deep. It is likely that the intense rain from earlier this week either avalanched or squashed this layer, but it could linger in isolated features.

The middle and base of the snowpack may also be moist from the rain, though weak faceted grains could persist where the snowpack isn't fully moist.

Snowpack depths at treeline are approximately 30 to 60 cm. The snowpack tapers drastically with elevation below treeline.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Cloudy with trace to 10 cm of snow, northwest alpine wind 20 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with no precipitation, northwest alpine wind 10 km/h, treeline temperature -6 °C.

Friday

Mix of sun and cloud with no precipitation, northwest alpine wind 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperature -9 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with 2 to 5 cm snow, south alpine wind 60 km/h, treelin temperature -8 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
  • Early season avalanches at any elevation have the potential to be particularly dangerous due to obstacles that are exposed or just below the surface.

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.