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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 15th, 2024–Feb 16th, 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 Coastal, Boundary, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw.

Slab avalanches have been reactive to human triggers and even remote triggering from afar. This is most likely where the snow is wind affected and sitting above buried surface hoar or a crust.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday, the pattern of human and remotely triggered avalanches continued. Most recent avalanches have been up to size 1.5 with a few larger ones up to size 2.5 reported on Monday. These avalanches have been occurring at treeline and above and on all aspects. Almost all of them have failed on the layer of surface hoar or crust described in the snowpack summary.

Snowpack Summary

Exposed terrain at treeline and above is highly wind affected. In sheltered terrain a new layer of surface hoar is forming on the surface and a new crust may be found on steep south facing slopes.

Another layer of surface hoar and facets is buried 10 to 30 cm in sheltered terrain.

Below treeline a thick melt-freeze crust exists down 20 cm and up to 1700 m.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Clear skies. 20 to 30 km/h east alpine wind. Treeline temperature -5°C. Freezing level valley bottom.

Friday

Sunny. 15 to 25 km/h southeast alpine wind. Treeline temperature -5°C. Weak temperature inversion. Freezing levels 600 m.

Saturday

Sunny with cloudy periods. 10 to 20 km/h southeast alpine wind. Treeline temperature -6°C. Alpine temperature inversion -1°C. Freezing levels 500 m.

Sunday

A mix of sun and cloud and isolated flurries. 15 to 20 km/h southeast alpine wind. Treeline temperature 0°C. Freezing levels 1700 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully assess open slopes and convex rolls where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
  • Avoid steep, rocky, and wind effected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.

Problems

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.

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.