Vancouver Island Avalanche Bulletin

Friday Feb. 6, 2009

Vancouver Island Avalanche Bulletin

Date Issued: Friday Feb 6, 2009

Valid Until: Sunday Feb 8, 2009

Bulletin Area: This bulletin covers the mountainous region of Vancouver Island from the Mt. Cain Ski Area in the North to the Beaufort range to the South including the mountains of Strathcona Provincial Park.

DANGER RATINGS

OUTLOOK	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Alpine	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Treeline	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Below Treeline	Low	Low	Low

Confidence:

Good: Little precip in the forecast, no loose snow to move around and low freezing levels.

Primary Concerns:

Lingering wind slabs in alpine terrain. Thin windslabs in lee areas sitting on hard crust.

Deep facet layer in certain terrain features still a concern

Weather:

Little in the way of precip and wind is in the forecast for the period. The possibility for 5-10cms for Saturday night exists. Freezing levels thankfully are dropping down to close to valley bottom for Sunday.

Snowpack:

Recent warm temperatures of up to 8 degrees were observed in alpine and treeline elevations over the last 2 days. This melt and weakening of the upper levels of the snowpack will now be corrected with our return to lower freezing levels. Expect the moist surfaces from sun and rain over the last bulletin period to lock up the surface into a nice hard crust. Isolated windslabs could still be found at higher elevations on the North aspects or areas that are totally protected from the sun all day. The small amount of snow forecasted for saturday will not greatly affect our hazard but there exists the possibility of new thin slab formation on a hard crust.

Travel advisory:

Watch for wind slabs at the highest elevations where the sun can not reach to. Beware of widespread hard surface crusts that could create a fall hazard instead of an avalanche hazard on steep terrain. With the new snow and some wind, thin slabs could form on the hard crusts that currently exist. This could create terrain trap potential where although you might not have enough mass for burial you could be taken into terrain such as gullies, trees or cliffs

Early season hazards are still prevelant at below treeline elevations.

Caution is still advised in alpine areas with respect to the xmas facet layer.

Avalanche Activity:

Natural avalanche on solar aspects has been observed as well as lots of snowballing and pinwheeling.

Outlook:

Tuesday might bring more wind and snow to the region with low freezing levels.

Are you traveling in the island back country?

Send our forecasters your observations. We are particularly interested in hearing if you have observed avalanche activity or If you or a member of your party has been involved in an avalanche. Email your observations to the Island Avalanche Bulletin forecasters at info@islandalpineguides.com

Important Notice: This is a regional forecast and significant variation may exist within the forecast area. The information and danger ratings are intended as a trip planning aid for recreational, backcountry users of avalanche terrain; they are not meant to be used as the sole factor in determining the avalanche danger presented by a specific slope. Always include local weather, snowpack and avalanche observations in your decision to travel in avalanche terrain. Observations and experience may lead to different conclusions from what is reported or recommended. See disclaimer for further details. The technical data used to produce these bulletins is obtained from a variety of sources, including local ski areas and remote weather resources.

February 5th, 2009 | Category: Current Condition | Print This Post | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed