Storm hits Northwest B.C.

B.C.'s northwestern region has been walloped by a dump of heavy wet snow in recent days, knocking out power to most of Kitimat and making driving difficult between Terrace and Prince Rupert on Tuesday morning.

Almost 1,400 homes were without power south of Kitimat and BC Hydro did not expect the the outage would be fixed until noon.

Heavy slush and slippery conditions were reported highways in the area and officials were warning people to avoid travel on Highways 16, 37 and along the Nisga'a Highway.

Further south in the Lower Mainland region about 5,000 people lost power in Abbotsford, Langley, Maple Ridge, and Mission area after a storm swept through the area early Tuesday morning. BC Hydro hoped to have that power restored by 8 a.m. PT.

Avalanche danger high

The Canadian Avalanche Centre is also warning the new snow and wind are contributing to unstable mountain slopes from the South Coast through the Kootenays and Columbia mountains.

Forecaster Cam Campbell says snow above the tree line is unpredictable and is asking people to stay out of the alpine backcountry.

"We expect avalanches to happen just spontaneously. Just from the overburden of the new snow," said Campbell.

Campbell says people should avoid the backcountry because of the high risk of avalanches in many areas.

"We've had towards the end of November, a fairly lengthy long, clear cold snap which caused the surface snow to become weak. And once that was buried it didn't bond well to the overlying snow and we're still seeing avalanches being triggered on this previous snow surface," said Campbell.