Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Blue River, Cariboos, Clearwater, Clemina, Jordan, McBride, North Columbia, North Monashee, Premier, Quesnel, Shuswap.
Expect challenging travel navigating refrozen surfaces and old avalanche debris.
At higher elevations, evaluate how new snow is bonding to the crust and avoid freshly wind-loaded areas.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
A natural avalanche cycle occurred last week from rain and warm temperatures. Avalanche danger has decreased with cooling temperatures.
As you gain elevation, evaluate how new snow is bonding to the crust and avoid large, steep, convex slopes. Persistent weak layers remain a concern in the alpine where the snowpack was not significantly impacted by last week's warming.
Snowpack Summary
Cooling temperatures have left a surface crust of varying thickness at all elevations. At upper elevations, up to 15 cm of dry snow may exist on top of this crust.
A weak facet/crust layer from mid-January exists down 30-80 cm. A rain crust from early December exists down 100+ cm. These layers may remain a concern in the alpine where they were not significantly impacted by rain and warm temperatures.
The lower snowpack is characterized by weak basal facets in many areas.
Weather Summary
Saturday Night
Partially cloudy. Alpine wind northeast 5 to 15 km/h. Treeline temperature -6 °C, freezing level dropping to valley bottom.
Sunday
Increasing cloud cover with light flurries in the afternoon. Alpine wind northeast 5 to 20 km/h. Treeline temperature -5 °C, freezing level 800 m.
Monday
Cloudy with light flurries. Alpine wind southeast 10 to 30 km/h. Treeline temperature -6 °C, freezing level 500 m.
Tuesday
Cloudy with light snowfall, up to 5 cm accumulation. Alpine wind southwest 15 to 40 km/h. Treeline temperature -5 °C, freezing level 700 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- A crust on the surface will help bind the snow together, but may make for tough travel conditions.
- Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
- Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.
Avalanche Problems
Wind Slabs
Pockets of wind-transported dry snow may form small but reactive wind slabs overlying a crust.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5
Persistent Slabs
The likelihood of avalanches failing on buried weak layers is decreasing but it may remain a concern in higher alpine areas. High-consequence slopes should be approached with caution.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine.
Likelihood: Unlikely - Possible
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3