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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 19th, 2024–Mar 20th, 2024

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
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

Cariboos, Blue River, Clearwater, McBride, Premier, Quesnel, Clemina, North Monashee, Renshaw, Robson.

Choose mellow terrain and avoid being under steep slopes.

Where a thick surface crust is present, large slab avalanches are less likely.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Through the weekend, a widespread natural avalanche cycle up to size 3 continued. Most reports aren't specific, as many operations didn't venture very far. Loose wet and persistent slab avalanches are most likely.

Looking ahead, in areas where you find a thick surface crust, avalanche activity is less likely.

Snowpack Summary

Above 1000 m, up to 10 cm of new snow will likely overlie a firm crust. Expect to find wet surface snow at low elevations.

Two layers of surface hoar and sun crust can be found in the top meter of the snowpack. One from late February and the other from early March.

A thick and hard widespread crust that formed in early February is buried about 70 to 130 cm deep. This crust has a layer of facets above it in many areas.

The snowpack below this crust is generally not concerning except in shallow alpine terrain.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with up to 5 mm, falling as snow above 1000 m. 10 km/h west ridgetop winds. Treeline temperatures -3 °C. Freezing level drops to 1500 m.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 5 mm, falling as snow above 1000 m. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperatures -3 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow to valley bottom, greatest in the North Monashees. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperatures -6 °C. Freezing level 500 m.

Friday

Partly cloudy. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperatures -8 °C. Freezing level drops to surface.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Keep in mind that human triggering potential persists as natural avalanching tapers off.
  • When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.
  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.

Problems

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.