Kitimat

A buried persistent weak layer is capable of producing large destructive avalanches.

Conditions Update Here

Moderate

• We are uncertain due to a limited number of field observations.
• We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.

Over the last week, a few natural and several skier-triggered wind slabs up to size 2 have occurred. A natural cornice failure triggered a size 3 persistent slab on a NW aspect in the alpine.

A fatal avalanche accident occurred north of Terrace on March 22. Available details can be found here.

Observations in this region are limited, and there's uncertainty about buried weak layers in the upper/mid snowpack. Submit to the MIN and keep your terrain choices conservative.

Outflow winds with 15 to 30 cm fresh flurries transported snow and stripped features. Around 50 cm of recent snow covers a crust on most aspects and hard wind-preseed surfaces on shaded alpine slopes.

Persistent weak layers of crust/facets or surface hoar are buried 100 to 250 cm deep in the snowpack. While triggering these layers is trending unlikely, they present a low-probability, high-consequence problem.

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy. 2 to 4 cm of snow. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy. 1 to 3 cm of snow. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Sunday

Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Monday

Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 3 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Use conservative route selection and resist venturing into complex terrain.
• Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
• Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
• Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.