Road Advisory in effect as Avalanche Risk could see Highway 16 closed at times today

See updated info at bottom of page

The unsettled weather of the last 48 hours has taken a toll on the mountainsides along the Highway 16 corridor between Terrace and Prince Rupert, and as the snow and sleet accumulates Drive BC has issued a warning that any time through the morning the Highway may be closed owing to a High Avalanche Risk.

Highway crews will be attending to a number of locations along the Highway through the day to provide for avalanche control work, which also could bring major delays in travel as they go about their work. Work will begin at 930AM and continue through to 3 PM. Potential delays could last up to one hour at a time through the day.

The main focus for the concern is an area just west of Kwinitsa, where two avalanche risk areas have been identified.

Late last night a Travel Advisory had been put in place for the highway owing to poor visibility and heavy snowfall along the corridor. That advisory remained in effect as of earlier this morning.

At the moment the stretch between Terrace and Prince Rupert at Kwinitsa and Rainbow Summit indicates snow covered conditions.

Kwinitsa highway camera

Kasiks Highway camera

Rainbow Summit Highway Camera

You can access the latest updates from Drive BC from their website and Twitter Feed.

A list of Highway cameras across the Northwest can be found here.

Update: Drive BC updated their information on the avalanche control work advising that all required work had been completed by mid morning Friday.

For past notes related to weather events around the region see our archive page here.

To view the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.