Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 22nd, 2023–Apr 23rd, 2023

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Below Threshold.

Regions

South Coast, Garibaldi, Powell River, North Shore, Sasquatch, Sasquatch, Sky Pilot, Tetrahedron.

Start in mellow terrain, and watch how the surface snow is changing through the day. A wet and dynamic storm could bring rapid change to the snowpack.

The biggest concerns are fresh storm slabs in the alpine, and rain soaking any dry snow that remains around treeline.

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

During this week, storm snow was generally reactive to human traffic as seen in this Mountain Information Network post from the SkyPilot area, and this one from the Brohm ridge area. Both of these avalanches occurred on Thursday.

We expect that similar avalanches could be triggered by riders on Sunday within the new storm snow. Also, significant rain at treeline and below is making wet loose avalanches likely, especially in the morning.

Avoiding cornice exposure is also a good idea, as they are very large and looming at this time of year.

Snowpack Summary

By mid-day Sunday, 20-35 mm of rain will have soaked the surface snow to mountaintops in most of the forecast area. At very high elevations, or in places where it keeps precipitating as the temperature drops, you could find dry snow on the surface. The wind picks up from the southwest on Sunday, which means that in places where dry surface snow remains, deeper and touchier deposits may be found in leeward terrain.

The new rain or snow is falling on 120 cm of settling snow that accumulated over the past week.

The remainder of the snowpack is strong and well-bonded.

Cornices are large and looming at this time of year.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy. Moderate rain, 15-25 mm. Snow/rain line between 1500 and 2000 m. Treeline high 2 °C. Light to moderate southwest ridgetop wind.

Sunday

Cloudy. Light rain/snow, 5-10 mm. Snow/rain line around 1500 m first thing in the morning, cooling as precipitation tapers off. Treeline low around -3°C. Moderate to strong southwest ridgetop wind.

Monday

Low cloud. Light snow/rain overnight, isolated areas of 10 cm of snow. Snow/rain line around 1000 m, warming through the day, treeline high around 0°C. Light northwest ridgetop wind.

Tuesday

Low cloud. No new snow/rain expected. Freezing level rising from 1250 m to 1750 m. Light to moderate west or northwest ridgetop wind.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid all avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
  • Choose relatively conservative lines and watch for clues of instability.
  • Avoid terrain traps where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.