Avalanche Forecast
Northwest Inland
Heavy accumulations are possible as an Arctic front sits over the region. Be extra cautious if there's lots of new snow or strong wind.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- If triggered the wind slabs may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
- Minimize exposure during periods of heavy loading from new snow and wind.
- Use conservative route selection, choose moderate angled and supported terrain with low consequence.
Avalanche Problem 2: Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
There is limited information about weak layers buried 30-80 cm below the surface. They produced a few avalanches earlier this week, and may still be reactive. Carefully assess the snowpack and terrain in your local area.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid shallow or thick to thin snowpack areas where triggering a deeper layer is more likely.
- Evaluate unsupported slopes critically.
- Avoid lingering in runout zones.
Avalanche Summary
Reports have been limited recently. Skiers have been able to trigger a few small slabs on steep convex rolls on Thursday and Wednesday. Some evidence of past natural activity has been reported in various parts of the region, likely occurring during last week's storm.
A few persistent slab avalanches have been reported over the past week as well. Several naturally-triggered size 2 persistent slab avalanches failed naturally at 1200 m in the Howsons on Tuesday. A large naturally-triggered size 3 persistent slab avalanche was reported on an east aspect at 1900 m in the Howsons on Monday. Two large remotely triggered avalanches (size 2.5) were reported on north and west aspects around 1600 m north of Kispiox late last week.
Snowpack Summary
Fresh snow will continue to accumulate the next few days. 20-30 cm has already accumulated since Thursday. Warm temperatures are promoting the settlement of new snow, while westerly winds are blowing snow around in exposed areas and forming touchy slabs.
40-70 cm of snow lies over a crust and/or weak feathery surface hoar layer buried in mid-January. The crust exists well into the alpine and the surface hoar can be found in sheltered areas in the lower alpine and treeline elevations. Another two crust / surface hoar layers that formed in December are buried 60-90 cm below the surface. These layers produced sudden results in recent snowpack tests and have been the suspected weak layer in recent large remotely (from a distance) triggered avalanches.
Weather Forecast
SATURDAY: 10 cm of snow Friday night then clearing and cooling throughout the day, strong west wind, alpine high temperatures around -12 C.
SUNDAY: Heavy snow starting Sunday morning with accumulations of 10-30 cm, moderate southwest wind, alpine high temperatures around -10 C.
MONDAY: Clearing with some isolated flurries, light wind, alpine high temperatures around -8 C.
Avalanche Forecasts in your Inbox
Avalanche Canada has switched to an RSS feed for its daily forecasts. This is a much more flexible method that allows automatic delivery to your email inbox, or to an RSS reader of your choice.
What are RSS feeds?
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Set up an RSS feed for your email:
Select a RSS aggregator
- Northwest Inland URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/northwest-inland.rss - Copy the url and paste it into the appropriate field of your RSS aggregator.
- Fill in your email address.
- Voila! Watch the Avalanche Canada forecast roll into your inbox.
Forecast Disclaimer
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New snow and strong wind will form touchy slabs, especially at higher elevations and in wind-affected terrain. Weather forecasts are handling the situation poorly, so some areas may have extra thick and touchy storm slabs.