Avalanche Forecast

Very little avalanche activity was reported on Sunday or Monday, but expect natural and human triggered avalanches to be more likely on Tuesday in areas that receive significant new snow.

On Saturday in the Shames backcountry, pinwheeling of moist snow was reported in steeper terrain, along with signs of recent, wet loose avalanches.

Also, a small, rider triggered avalanche was reported northwest of Terrace. It occurred around treeline, and failed down 30 cm, possibly on a layer of surface hoar that was buried on Dec 9.

Fresh snow will be falling mostly on 20-50 cm of dry settling snow, or refrozen or moist snow below 1000 m. In sheltered areas that didn't see rain last week, a layer of weak, feathery surface hoar crystals buried in early January will now be 30-60 cm below the surface.

Weak layers that were reactive over the Christmas and New Year's period have shown signs of bonding and gaining strength. These include a surface hoar layer buried on Dec 28 found 50 to 100 cm deep and a facet layer buried on Dec 23 found 70 to 120 cm deep.

Monday Night

Cloudy. Light snowfall, up to 10cm around Kitimat. Moderate to strong southwest alpine wind. Freezing level around 750 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy. 2-5cm of snow expected, 20-30cm possible around Kitimat. Moderate to strong south alpine wind. Alpine temperatures around -5°C. Snow/Rain line as low as 250m.

Wednesday

Cloudy. 5cm of snow expected overnight. Possibly another 20-30 cm around Kitimat. Moderate southwest alpine wind. Alpine temperatures around -10°C. Snow/Rain line as low as 250 m.

Thursday

Cloudy. 5-10cm of snow expected. Strong southwest alpine wind. Alpine temperature rising to -5ºC through the day.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
• Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.