Cariboos

Expect challenging travel navigating refrozen surfaces and old avalanche debris.

At higher elevations, evaluate how new snow is bonding to the crust and avoid freshly wind-loaded areas.

Cooling temperatures have left a surface crust of varying thickness at all elevations. At upper elevations, up to 15 cm of dry snow may exist on top of this crust.

A weak facet/crust layer from mid-January exists down 30-80 cm. A rain crust from early December exists down 100+ cm. These layers may remain a concern in the alpine where they were not significantly impacted by rain and warm temperatures.

The lower snowpack is characterized by weak basal facets in many areas.

A natural avalanche cycle occurred last week from rain and warm temperatures. Avalanche danger has decreased with cooling temperatures.

As you gain elevation, evaluate how new snow is bonding to the crust and avoid large, steep, convex slopes. Persistent weak layers remain a concern in the alpine where the snowpack was not significantly impacted by last week's warming.

Saturday Night

Partially cloudy. Alpine wind northeast 5 to 15 km/h. Treeline temperature -6 °C, freezing level dropping to valley bottom.

Sunday

Increasing cloud cover with light flurries in the afternoon. Alpine wind northeast 5 to 20 km/h. Treeline temperature -5 °C, freezing level 800 m.

Monday

Cloudy with light flurries. Alpine wind southeast 10 to 30 km/h. Treeline temperature -6 °C, freezing level 500 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with light snowfall, up to 5 cm accumulation. Alpine wind southwest 15 to 40 km/h. Treeline temperature -5 °C, freezing level 700 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• A crust on the surface will help bind the snow together, but may make for tough travel conditions.
• Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
• Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present.