Vancouver Island

New snow and wind are creating dangerous avalanche conditions. Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended during periods of heavy snow and strong wind.

Recent avalanche reports have been limited to small, loose dry avalanches in steep, shaded terrain.

Looking forward to Saturday, we expect that the potential for natural and human triggered avalanches will be likely to very likely.

30 to 70 cm of new snow is expected by the end of the day on Saturday. Extreme southerly ridgetop winds will make for widely varied conditions in wind exposed terrain. The new snow is unlikely to bond well in areas where it overlies weak facets or surface hoar.

Below the new snow, 40 to 80 cm of loose snow sits over a crust that exists on all but high north aspects.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally settled and strong.

Below 1000m the upper snowpack may be moist or wet.

Friday Night

Cloudy. Western parts of the Island expecting up to 65 cm, other areas expecting around 15 cm. 90 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline low around 0 °C. Freezing level around 1200m.

Saturday

Cloudy. Western parts of the Island expecting up to 40 cm, other areas expecting around 15 cm. 60 to 100 km/h southwesterly ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -1 °C. Freezing level around 1000m.

Sunday

Cloudy. 10 to 20 cm of snow expected. 60 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -1 °C. Freezing level around 1000m.

Monday

Cloudy. 10 to 20 cm of snow expected. 60 to 80 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline high around -2 °C. Freezing level around 1200m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
• Avoid areas with overhead hazard.
• Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
• Be careful to keep storm day fever from luring you out into bigger terrain features.