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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 13th, 2024–Jan 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, 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.

Regions

Northwest Inland, Howson, Kispiox, Microwave-Sinclair, North Bulkley, South Bulkley, South Bulkley, South Bulkley, Telkwa.

Use caution when transitioning into wind-affected terrain.

Wind slabs may exist on a variety of alpine slopes due to switching winds.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Friday Ski tourers on Hudson Bay Mountain felt whumpfing and saw a few small natural wind slabs in the alpine on south-facing slopes.

Several other natural size 2 wind slabs were also seen in the Telkwa Ranges on steep, rocky, northeast-facing slopes.

Wednesday The field team made shooting cracks ski cutting a wind loaded southwest-facing alpine slope. More details here.

Layers of buried surface hoar continue to produce planar fractures in snowpack testing near Kispiox.

Snowpack Summary

15 to 20 cm of recent storm snow sits on a rain crust up to 1650 m. In the alpine, recent northeast winds have built wind slabs on south and westerly faces.

Two or more preserved surface hoar layers can be found buried between 35 and 70 cm deep. These layers are most prominent at treeline and below treeline elevations, above 1200 m. They've also been observed in north and east-facing alpine locations.

Snowpack depths at treeline vary across the region with generally deeper amounts (150 to 120 cm) west of the highway, and shallower (50 to 90 cm) to the east.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

A few clouds with no new snow, variable alpine wind 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures drop to -30 ºC.

Sunday

Mostly sunny with no new snow, westerly alpine wind 20 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -25 ºC.

Monday

Cloudy with no new snow, west alpine wind 20 to 40 km/h, treeline temperatures -25 ºC.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 5 cm of new snow, north alpine wind 10 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -20 ºC.

With cold temperatures forecast for this weekend, check out the most recent Forecaster Blog for tips on backcountry preparedness.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.
  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
  • Seek out sheltered terrain where new snow hasn't been wind-affected.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.

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.