Avalanche forecast

Northwest Inland

Feb 7 – 8, 2016Avalanche Canada
View on map
Archived · expired 11 years ago

Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
Open full map

Highlights

Warming forecast for the next few days will destabilize the snowpack. Use extra caution if the sun makes an appearance.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    1–3
    Strong winds and snow continues to form new wind slabs which have been failing naturally in recent days. Watch for triggering in lee features at treeline and in the alpine.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–4
    In deeper snowpack areas, surface hoar which was buried in early January is ripe for human triggering. Forecast warming will make avalanches failing at this interface more likely.

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–3
    Warming forecast for the next few days will promote loose wet avalanche activity in steep lower elevation terrain. Destructive wet slab avalanches are also possible. Use extra caution if the sun makes an appearance.

Confidence

Moderate - Freezing levels are uncertain on Monday

Weather Forecast

On Monday, expect 1-5mm of precipitation with freezing levels climbing from 1600m to 2100m throughout the day. On Tuesday the region will see a mix of sun and cloud with freezing levels shooting to 2800m. Light snowfall is forecast for Wednesday. Ridgetop winds are forecast to remain strong from the southwest for the entire forecast period.

Avalanche Summary

In the Smithers area on Saturday there were reports of a few naturally triggered wind slab avalanches to size 2 on east and southeast aspects at about 1700m. Continued snow and wind on Sunday will promote ongoing wind slab activity with the potential to step down to deeper, more destructive persistent weak layers.

Snowpack Summary

New snow and wind on Sunday has created reactive new wind slabs throughout the day adding to an ongoing wind slab problem. New snow accumulations will also add mass and reactivity to a developing slab which overlies recently buried surface hoar. This layer was observed in the Hankin area and may exist in many other places. The early or mid January surface hoar layer is generally 30-50 cm deep, although it may be buried by up to 100cm of snow in the far west of the region. Observers have found this persistent weakness on all aspects and at all elevations. It consistently produces moderate "pops" results in snowpack tests. Below this, the Boxing Day surface hoar problem may also be lurking. The mid and lower snowpack is generally quite weak and faceted, especially in lower snowpack areas such as the Babines.

Regions covered