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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 13th, 2024–Feb 14th, 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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Blue River, Clearwater, Esplanade, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, Shuswap, West Purcell, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Kokanee, North Okanagan, Retallack, Valhalla, Whatshan.

New snow and wind have formed slabs that may be reactive to human triggers, especially where buried surface hoar or a crust exists.

Minimize exposure to steep, sun-exposed slopes.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Natural avalanche activity has tapered but numerous rider-triggered and remote helicopter-triggered avalanches have been reported up to size 2.5. Some of these avalanches are failing on buried sun crust and surface hoar down 20-25 cm deep.

Snowpack Summary

A new sun crust likely exists on steep solar aspects. 15 to 25 cm of snow overlies a variety of surfaces including a weak layer of small surface hoar in sheltered areas and/or a thin sun crust on solar aspects.

The widespread crust buried in early February is down 30 to 50 cm.

Various weak layers persist in the mid to lower snowpack, however, triggering these layers is unlikely where they are capped by a thick crust.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Clear with some clouds. 15 to 25 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Wednesday

Sunny. 10 to 15 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Thursday

Sunny. 20 to 25 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -15 °C.

Friday

Sunny. 5 to 10 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
  • Use small low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
  • The best and safest riding will be on slopes that have soft snow without any slab properties.
  • A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.

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.

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.