Avalanche forecast

South Coast

Dec 7, 2016Avalanche Canada
View on map
Archived · expired 10 years ago

Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
Open full map

Highlights

Make conservative terrain choices because the storm snow will take longer than usual to settle.

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    2
    40-60 cm of recent storm snow sits above a widespread rain crust and is expected to be touchy to human triggers. Storm slabs will be extra thick and reactive on leeward features.

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

WEDNESDAY: Sunny, light north winds, treeline temperatures at -8.THURSDAY: Flurries with accumulations of 5-15 cm by the afternoon, 30-50 km/h southwest winds, treeline temperature at -6.FRIDAY: 20-50 cm of new snow, 20-40 km/h southwest winds, treeline temperature at -4.

Avalanche Summary

On Monday, storm slabs were very touchy with numerous size 1 skier triggered avalanches running on all aspects, and several size 1.5-2 avalanches triggered remotely. The avalanches were running on a widespread melt-freeze crust below the storm snow, which will continue to be touchy with human triggers.

Snowpack Summary

Monday delivered 40-60 cm of new snow to the South Coast, with the heaviest accumulations on the North Shore. The new snow likely sits above a supportive melt-freeze crust, providing a bed surface for storm slabs to run on. The new snow was not bonding well with the crust on Tuesday, and may take longer than usual to stabilize due to the cold arctic air currently over the region. The lower snowpack is well settled and strong. Total snowpack depths are 160-200 cm at treeline, with isolated pockets deep enough for avalanches at below treeline elevations.

Regions covered