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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 25th, 2024–Feb 26th, 2024

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

Regions

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

Large avalanches are likely to occur.

Avoid all avalanche terrain.

A dangerously buried weak layer has shown it can be triggered from far away.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

A natural avalanche cycle is expected to be ongoing at the time of publishing.

A few small, remotely triggered storm slabs were reported on Saturday. However, observations are very limited.

Several small and large (size 2) rider-triggered storm and persistent slab avalanches were reported on Friday. Some were triggered remotely from up to 40 m away.

Snowpack Summary

40 to 70 cm of snow from the recent storm sits on top of many different layers: Weak sugary facets, a sun crust, and surface hoar in sheltered spots. This snow fell with a lot of wind, so expect wind loading in exposed areas.

50 to 80 cm deep you will find the thick crust from early February, which has weak, facets on top. It seems to extend up to around 2400 m.

Below the crust is generally settled and not a concern.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy with up to 10 cm of snow. 15 to 35 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. up to 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Tuesday

Mostly clear skies. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -20 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 10 cm of snow. 35 to 45 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Only the most simple non-avalanche terrain free of overhead hazard is appropriate at this time.
  • Shooting cracks, whumphs and recent avalanches are strong indicators of an unstable snowpack.
  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.

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.