Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 29th, 2024–Jan 30th, 2024

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

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 possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

The upper snowpack has been saturated and weakened by recent rain. Avoid high-consequence avalanche terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Widespread natural, loose wet avalanche activity was reported on Sunday at all elevations, up to size 1.5. One natural, size 3, wet slab avalanche was reported on Sunday in alpine terrain.

Two separate natural avalanches were observed on Sunday failing on layers deep within the snowpack. They both occurred in north-facing alpine terrain. One was a size 2.5, while the other was a size 3.

Snowpack Summary

Rainfall has saturated the upper snowpack at all elevations.

The mid and lower snowpack consists of various crusts and layers of facets or surface hoar. These layers deeper in the snowpack are more concerning with the warm temperatures and increased load from rain.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Cloudy with 20 to 30 mm of rain or wet snow, south alpine winds 50 to 80 km/h, freezing levels around 2200 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with no precipitation, south alpine winds 20 to 50 km/h, freezing levels around 2200 m.

Wednesday

Cloudy with trace amounts of rain or wet snow, south alpine winds 30 to 60 km/h, freezing levels around 2200 m.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow, south alpine winds 10 to 30 km/h, freezing levels around 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
Avoid areas with overhead hazard.
Avoid steep convex slopes.
Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.

Problems

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.

Wet Slabs

Wet Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) that is generally moist or wet when the flow of liquid water weakens the bond between the slab and the surface below (snow or ground). They often occur during prolonged warming events and/or rain-on-snow events. Wet Slabs can be very unpredictable and destructive.

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.