Avalanche Forecast

Moderate -

Friday night: Cloudy with easing flurries bringing 5-10 cm of new snow. Winds shifting to light northeast.Saturday: Sunny. Light to moderate east winds. Alpine high temperatures around -15.Sunday: Sunny. Light to moderate northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures around -11.Monday: Sunny. Strong to extreme northeast outflow winds. Alpine high temperatures around -10.

Preliminary observations of the new snow showed small avalanches beginning to occur naturally at the end of the day on Thursday under heavy snowfall at lower elevations in the Terrace area. Natural wind slab releases to size 2 were observed in the Bear Pass area. On Friday, several more small natural releases were observed at lower elevations in the Skeena corridor. Observations from the alpine remain limited at this time.Looking forward, expect natural avalanche activity to taper off on Saturday while the potential for human triggered avalanches remains elevated.

20-50 cm of new snow fell over the region in the storm that began on Thursday, with the highest amounts favouring areas closer to the coast. The new snow has reportedly buried a new layer of surface hoar in sheltered areas as well as a new sun crust on solar aspects. It also adds to 15 cm of snow we received on Tuesday. In most areas, all of this snow collectively overlies hard, previously wind affected surfaces or crust. In limited sheltered areas, it may overlie an older layer of faceted (sugary) snow.In the south of the region, the remainder of the snowpack is well-settled.Around Bear Pass and in the north of the region, you may find two weak layers of surface hoar buried between 50 and 100 cm. The base of the snowpack may also be composed of weak and sugary faceted snow.