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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 18th, 2023–Dec 19th, 2023

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 possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

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

Buried weak layers are likely susceptible to human-triggering. Choose low-consequence terrain for safer riding.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches have been observed or reported over the weekend period

On Friday a machine triggered size 1.5 avalanche on an east aspect at treeline was reported. It may have failed on buried surface hoar.

A few natural wind slab avalanches, size 1 to 2, were reported on Thursday on the Grizzly Plateau and are suspect to have failed on a weak layer of surface hoar buried 25cm down.

If you do go into the backcountry, consider submitting a Mountain Information Network report.

Snowpack Summary

Widespread wind-affected surfaces exist at higher elevations with roughly 30 cm of recent snow that has been redistributed by strong southwest alpine winds.

Two different surface hoar layers have been reported in the upper half of the snowpack and appear to be most prominent at treeline and below.

In general, the snowpack is still shallow for this time of year with snowpack depths at treeline ranging from 50 to 100 cm. Early season hazards are still a concern.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Mostly cloudy, 5 to 10 cm accumulation, ridgetop winds southwest 30 km/h, treeline temperature -5 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy, 5 to 10 cm accumulation, ridgetop winds south southwest 30 km/h, treeline temperature -8 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy, 1 to 5 cm accumulation,, ridgetop winds south west 60 km/h, treeline temperatures -4 °C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy, 1 to 5 cm accumulation,, ridgetop winds south west 40 km/h, treeline temperatures -6 °C.

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.
  • Avoid areas where the snow feels stiff and/or slabby.

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.