Avalanche forecast

Cariboos

Jan 14 – 15, 2012Avalanche Canada
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Archived · expired 15 years ago

Avalanche danger

Mon
Tue
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2–5
    10 - 20 cm of new snow will be formed into fresh sensitive wind slabs Sunday. Watch for changing conditions as winds increase after lunch Sunday. Winds will be out of the N/NE which will form wind slabs in unusual locations.

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely - Possible
    Size
    1–5
    Last week's warm temperatures and strong winds have caused rapid cornice growth which may not be well supported. Try to reduce your exposure beneath these large unstable masses of heavy snow.

Confidence

Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather is uncertain

Weather Forecast

Cold dry air moving down from the Arctic begins to take hold of the region Sunday afternoon. Winds switch to the N, NE as this air mass moves in & temperatures drop. A daytime high of -10 & an overnight low of -18 is forecast for Sunday. The mercury drops a little further Monday; H: -12, L: -30. This pattern will likely persist through Tuesday evening. No significant precipitation is expected for the next 72 hours.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches to report from the last 24 hours.

Snowpack Summary

Strong southwest winds created windslabs in the alpine and at treeline last week. I would suspect that these wind slabs have since gained some strength. 10 - 20 cm fell in the region Friday night with very little wind. A rain crust exists below 1500m. The mid-pack is reported to be strong, and I have not heard anyone talk about early season layers deep in the snowpack. That being said, there is still a lot of variation due to the strong winds that have accompanied most storms this winter in the region. I would continue to be suspect of thin snowpack areas. Winds increase Sunday switching to the N forming fresh sensitive windslabs.

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