Avalanche Forecast
Cariboos
A Special Public Avalanche Warning is in effect. Copy this link to view details: http://bit.ly/2nSOUyX
Avalanche Problem 1: Wind Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Give cornices a wide berth when travelling on or below ridges.
- If triggered, wind slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
- Travel on ridgetops to avoid wind slabs on slopes below.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Several troublesome layers are producing very large, destructive avalanches. These could be triggered by the weight of a person or snowmobile, or a surface avalanche.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Minimize exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.
- Avoid lingering in runout zones. Avalanches have the potential to run to valley floor.
Avalanche Problem 3: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Recent storm snow is gradually stabilizing, but storm slabs can still be triggered by solar warming or cornice fall, or a person in specific areas.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Use careful route-finding and stick to moderate slope angles with low consequences.
- Avoid slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if they have large cornices overhead.
Avalanche Summary
A very large, widespread avalanche cycle was observed on Thursday and Friday. Slopes of all aspects and elevations ran full path and reached valley floor. In some cases, mature trees were smashed. Many of these failed on persistent weak layers, while some involved only the recent storm snow.
The natural cycle is winding down, but human-triggering remains a real concern. You might be surprised by how large an avalanche can be triggered and how far it could run.
Snowpack Summary
Strong north to north-westerly winds have loaded lee slopes with 30-40 cm recent storm snow. This adds to an existing storm slab up to 1m deep from the last couple of weeks accumulation.
Several persistent weak layers make up a troublesome snowpack which is not tolerating the recent load. In the top 1-1.5 m of the snowpack, two surface hoar layers buried in January can be found. The shallower of the two has been particularly reactive on north to east aspects above 1900 m, but expect to find one or other of these on all aspects and elevations.
Deeper in the snowpack (120-200 cm deep) is a facet/crust/surface hoar layer from December, most prevalent at and below treeline.
Near the base of the snowpack is a crust/facet combo, most likely to be triggered from thin spots in the alpine.
All of these layers have produced large avalanches recently. The wide distribution and ongoing reactivity of these layers suggests that avoidance through choosing simple terrain is the best strategy.
Weather Forecast
An Arctic air mass keeps things cold and dry until Tuesday, when moderate snow is expected, with milder temperatures and strong south-westerly winds.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
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Set up an RSS feed for your email:
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- Cariboos URL:
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Recent north-westerly winds have left behind wind slabs and cornices on lee slopes.