Avalanche Forecast
Cariboos
Snowfall is expected to continue in the coming days with associated moderate to strong southwesterly winds. The new snow is falling on numerous weak layers and will likely be reactive to natural and human triggers.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Use caution when entering lee areas. Recent wind loading may have created wind slabs.
- Avoid exposure to terrain traps where the consequence of a small avalanche could be serious.
- If triggered, the storm slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Around 30 to 60 cm of snow sits above a touchy weak layer. As this snow continues to settle and gains slab properties, a dangerous slab that is easily triggered may form. Shallower storm slabs could step down to this layer.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Use conservative route selection. Choose moderate-angled and well-supported terrain.
- Avoid open slopes and convex rolls at treeline where buried surface hoar may be preserved.
Avalanche Summary
Storm slab avalanches have been reported, being triggered by natural triggers and skier activity. The slabs were small to large (size 1 to 2) and generally observed around treeline and alpine terrain with depths of about 20 cm. One release occurred in a loaded lee slope near ridgetop.
Please share your observations through the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
Around 20-30 cm of new snow fell on surface hoar in sheltered slopes and a sun crust on steep solar aspects and may not bond well to them. The snow also fell with moderate southwesterly winds in the alpine, which could have produced small wind slabs in lee features.
The new snow could create a dangerous slab above buried weak layers. Numerous persistent weak layers exist deeper in the snowpack. Dry snow overlies three layers composed of weak and feathery surface hoar, with the deepest layer (December 15) buried 30 to 60 cm. This layer is shallower in the north of the region and deeper in the south of the region. The weak layer is found most often at treeline and below treeline. As the snow above the weak layers becomes more cohesive and forms a slab, the setup has the potential to create easily-triggerable destructive slab avalanches.
Deeper in the snowpack at depths of about 70 to 100 cm, a rain crust from November is producing variable snowpack test results, from sudden fracture characters to no result. This layer is considered dormant but could be triggered where the snowpack is thin.
Weather Forecast
MONDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, accumulation 5-15 cm, light to moderate southwesterly winds, alpine temperature near -6 C, freezing level near 1000 m.
TUESDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, accumulation 5-15 cm, light to moderate southerly winds, alpine temperature dropping to -10 C over the day, freezing level below valley bottom.
WEDNESDAY: Partly cloudy with intermittent flurries, light to moderate southwesterly winds, alpine temperature near -12 C, freezing level below valley bottom.
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Around 20 to 30 cm of new snow, with the highest amounts in the south of the region, is sitting on variable surfaces and may not bond well to them. The snow fell with elevated southwesterly winds so the snow may be more cohesive in lee features.