Kispiox

Seek out areas that have been sheltered from the wind and be cautious of areas that are being actively wind loaded.

Buried surface hoar is lurking in the snowpack and can be hard to detect.

Moderate

• Uncertainty is due to the fact that persistent slabs are particularly difficult to forecast.

On Wednesday, the AvCan field team observed a couple of recent size 2 wind slab avalanches in the Onion riding area.

5 cm of snow today will cover a variety of old snow surfaces. Open areas were heavily wind affected, while sheltered terrain still had soft powder.

A rain crust from mid-December extends up to about 1400 m and is now buried by the recent storm snow. A widespread November surface hoar layer lies 60 to 100 cm deep in sheltered treeline areas. While no recent avalanches have involved this layer, some snowpack tests results have been concerning.

Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy. 3 cm of snow. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Sunday
Mostly cloudy. 2 cm of snow. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Monday
Mostly cloudy. 3 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 4 to 5 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Recent wind has varied in direction, so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
• Surface hoar distribution is highly variable. Avoid generalizing your observations.
• Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.