Avalanche Forecast

Saturday night: Cloudy with easing flurries bringing about 5 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong west winds, easing into the morning.

Sunday: Cloudy with scattered convective flurries giving a trace to 10 cm of new snow. Light southwest winds shifting northwest and increasing. Alpine high temperatures around -11.

Monday: Mainly cloudy. Light to moderate west winds, easing over the day. Alpine high temperatures around -9.

Tuesday: Mainly sunny. Light southwest winds. Alpine high temperatures around -4.

Reports from Friday included an observation of a large cornice-triggered wind slab in Morning Bowl - see the report here. Ski cutting also produced small storm slab releases on steep rolls below treeline. No new persistent slab releases have been reported, but recent activity on deep weak layers suggests the possibility for this type of activity should still figure into terrain selection decisions.

Reports from Thursday's storm showed an uptick in avalanche activity brought on by new snow and wind. Observations were limited, but one large (size 2) natural wind slab was reported in the Kispiox area while more numerous dry loose releases and larger audible avalanches were seen and heard further west in the Howsons. More widespread natural storm slab activity was observed in our neighbouring Northwest Coastal region.

During the first half of the month there were many very large and destructive avalanches failing on deeply buried surface hoar and crust/facet layers near the bottom of the snowpack. The bulk of this activity occurred above treeline on north through east facing aspects, but large alpine slopes that have not yet avalanched should be treated as suspect. A few examples of the most recent activity are reported here:

Feb 11: Large (size 2.5) avalanche triggered by a large snow machine in the Kispiox area.

Feb 9: Very large avalanche on the Kathlyn Face near Smithers. Details/Photos here and here.

Feb 9: Large avalanche in the French Peak Complex. Details/Photos here.

Feb 9: Very large avalanche near the Pine Creek Trail. Details/Photos here.

Feb 8: Large snowmobile triggered avalanche in the Babines. Details/Photos here.

Feb 8: Very large avalanche on Mt. Elmstead above Silver King Basin Trail in the Babines. Details/Photos here.

A variable trace to 20 cm of new snow accumulated in the region over Friday night and Saturday, bringing snow totals for the week to roughly 10-40 cm. The greatest accumulations can be found in the west of the region. 

With consistently elevated recent winds, each layer of recent snow has buried mainly wind-affected surfaces in exposed areas before subsequently being redistributed and affected by wind itself. In more sheltered areas, the recent snow collectively overlies crusts that can be found up to roughly 1200 m as well as on open south-facing slopes.

A weak layer of faceted snow that formed during cold weather in mid January is buried approximately 60-120 cm below the surface. Depending on location this layer may be composed of soft facets, surface hoar, or both. As a product of previous widespread cold temperatures, the faceted snow associated with this layer exists all over the region, however it may be bridged over by a firm crust at lower elevations. A few large avalanches were triggered on this layer in the first half of the month.

An older Crust/facet layer from November, lurking at the base of the snowpack, produced many very large avalanches during the first half of the month. As a product of old, weak snow from the early season, this layer is most likely to be found at high elevations.

• Avoid freshly wind loaded terrain features.
• If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
• Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.