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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 8th, 2023–Feb 9th, 2023

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

Regions

Coquihalla, Harrison-Fraser, Manning, Skagit.

Recent snowfall, moderate winds, and warm temperatures have created a number of avalanche problems.

Use cautious route-finding and evaluate snow and terrain carefully.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

In the last several days, no avalanche activity has been reported. Be aware that this is not an indication that human-triggered avalanches will not happen, they still can occur.

Please continue to post your reports and photos to the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

Around 35 of recent snow now sits on a variety of surfaces. It will have been redistributed at higher elevations by southwest winds.

A melt-freeze crust formed in mid-January is now buried 50 to 70 cm deep. At the moment this layer is gaining strength. The snow below this layer is consolidating nicely. Buried up to 120 cm is another layer of concern, a crust, formed near the end of December.

Snowpack depths are below seasonal averages. Total amounts range from 150 to 200 cm at treeline, but decrease significantly below 1500 m.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy with some clear periods, no accumulation, winds west 15 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 C.

Thursday

Sunny with morning cloud, trace accumulation in the northwest, winds south southwest 25 to 32, treeline temperatures warming to 0 C.

Friday

Cloudy, up to 15 cm accumulation, winds southwest 25 to 35 km/h, treeline temperatures -4 C with freezing level getting up to 1500 m.

Saturday

Cloudy, 5 cm accumulation, winds west southwest 25 to 40 km/h, treeline temperatures -5 C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.

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.