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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 28th, 2025–Jan 29th, 2025

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

Regions

Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Howson.

Avoid all avalanche terrain.

A deeply buried weak layer may cause large avalanches to run to the valley bottom.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

On Sunday, numerous small wet loose avalanches occurred during warm temperatures and sunshine. A few of them triggered wind slabs.

Snowpack Summary

Heavy snowfall is expected to drop 20 to 60 cm by the end of the day Wednesday. This snow falls on:

  • Large surface hoar crystals in sheltered spots at treeline and below.

  • Likely a crust on solar slopes.

  • Old wind affected snow.

A layer of surface hoar from early January is buried 20 to 40 cm deep. It's uncertain whether this layer will persist.

100 to 200 cm deep in the snowpack are layers of crust, facets, and possibly surface hoar that were buried in December.

The lower snowpack is generally well-settled and unconcerning.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 15 to 50 cm of snow. 50 to 90 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Thursday

A mix of sun and cloud with 1 to 2 cm of snow. 15 km/h west then east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 10 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy snowfall.
  • Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.
  • As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.

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.

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.