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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 24th, 2024–Mar 25th, 2024

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

Regions

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

Avoid steep, sunny slopes when you find moist or wet surface snow.

Persistent slab avalanches remain possible to trigger on high-elevation shady slopes.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Friday, a large (size 2.5) naturally triggered persistent slab was reported on a north-facing slope in the North Monashees.

On Thursday a few large (size 2) loose wet avalanches were observed on steep sunny slopes near Valemount.

Looking ahead, warm temperatures mean loose wet avalanche activity will continue. Avalanche activity is unlikely in areas with a thick, hard surface crust.

Snowpack Summary

On shady, upper-elevation slopes, around 10 to 20 cm of recent snow overlies previous firm surfaces. Expect a thick, supportive crust on the surface at low elevations, and on south and west-facing slopes. This crust may soften and melt during the day as it warms.

Two layers of surface hoar and sun crust may be found in the top meter of the snowpack.

A widespread crust is buried about 70 to 130 cm deep. This crust has a layer of facets above it in many areas, creating a persistent weak layer.

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

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Clear. 15 km/h west ridgetop winds. Treeline temperatures drop to -15 °C.

Monday

Increasing cloud. 15 km/h west ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature high of 3 °C. Freezing level rising to 1800 m.

Tuesday

Partly cloudy. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature high of 2 °C. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.

Wednesday

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature high of 0 °C. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • In areas where deep persistent slabs may exist, avoid shallow or variable depth snowpacks and unsupported terrain features.
  • Avoid exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes, especially when the solar radiation is strong.
  • When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.

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.