Avalanche forecast

South Coast

Jan 14 – 15, 2015Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 12 years ago

Avalanche danger

Fri
Sat
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

There are still weak layers in the snowpack to be reckoned with. Carefully assess terrain during this new snow cycle.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–5
    The incoming storm snow will be falling on a variety of old snow surfaces including temperature crusts, windblown snow and surface hoar. Conditions will be tricky until the new snow settles and stabilizes. A small slide might wake up a weak layer.

Confidence

Fair - Intensity of incoming weather systems is uncertain

Weather Forecast

A fast moving cold front will arrive on the coast on Thursday afternoon bringing strong southwest winds and precipitation to the Inland region for Thursday evening and early Friday.  The region may see 10 to 20cm of snow at upper elevations. Saturday there will be a small break in the weather with another 10 to 20cm on Sunday.  Freezing levels will fluctuate between 800 to 1500 metres as the storm moves through.

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanches have been reported.

Snowpack Summary

A thick crust is the most dominant feature in the snowpack above 1500 metres with breakable crust below that. There are a variety of layers previously mentioned in snowpack discussions, but unless there is an extreme weather event, they are likely to remain out of the picture . Some areas have reported 5cm of soft snow in sheltered areas above 1800metres, and one reporting party has observed 8mm surface hoar development on North aspects up to ridge tops. One operator reported that the Jan. 4th surface hoar that may now be buried by as much as 20 to 40 cm.

Regions covered