Avalanche forecast

Northwest Coastal

Jan 14 – 15, 2012Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

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

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    2–5
    Strong winds out of the North - East associated with Arctic Air are forming fresh sensitive windslabs in unusual locations. These windslabs will be especially tender Sunday/Monday. Use terrain to your advantage to avoid this hazard.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    1–4
    Watch for sluffing in the top 50 cm of the snowpack in areas that are sheltered from the wind.

Confidence

Good - -1

Weather Forecast

Sunday should be a beautiful day in the mountains as an outbreak of cold, dry Arctic Air takes hold of the region. Expect alpine winds out of the N, NE with lower elevation winds out of the E. Temperatures dip down to -26 overnight with a daytime high around -10. This pattern looks to persist through Tuesday evening.

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanches were reported from the region. This may speak more to limited observations due to weather, rather than actual conditions.

Snowpack Summary

Some areas (Terrace, Kaziks) are reporting an alpine snowpack of 5 metres. In these areas the mid-December surface hoar-facet layer is buried down about 250 cm and has not been reactive for quite some time. At this time the biggest issue in the region seems to be new snow instabilities. Although they can be quicker to heal than other weaknesses, they may be highly destructive, especially with this season's pattern of heavy accumulations of snow combined with strong winds.The region received 30 - 50 cm of snow since Wednesday. Wind data from the region is currently sparse, but it's fairly safe to assume that winds are at threshold values for wind slab development.On that note, we're heading into the first significant outbreak of Arctic Air this season. This cool dry air typically comes out of the NE at higher elevations while topography forces the air to move out of the East at mid/low elevations. This easterly wind is opposite of the typical westerlies, so, we call this "Reverse Loading." Backcountry users need to watch for wind slabs in unusual locations the next few days. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled and strong.

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