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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 16th, 2024–Mar 17th, 2024

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

Regions

South Coast, Powell River, North Shore, Sasquatch, Sasquatch, Tetrahedron, Harrison-Fraser.

Natural activity is expected to continue as temperatures remain high.

Avoid avalanche terrain, particularly sun affected slopes.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Wet avalanche activity was observed Thursday and Friday with strong sunshine and warm temperatures producing small loose avalanches.

Continued widespread wet avalanches and cornice failures are expected as warming persists. We expect avalanches to increase in size as temperatures remain high over the weekend with limited overnight refreeze.

Snowpack Summary

The upper 30-50 cm of the snowpack is wet from warm temperatures and strong sunshine. This wet snow has a poor bond with the dry snow, or thin crust found below.

The mid and lower snowpack is well settled and dense, however buried crusts exist that may make sliding surfaces for avalanche activity as the warming affects deeper into the snowpack.

Check out this Mt Strachan MIN for more details.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Clear skies. 30 km/h southerly ridgetop wind. Freezing level remains above 3000 m.

Sunday

Sunny. 20 km/h southerly ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +13 °C with freezing level remaining at 3300 m.

Monday

Sunny. 10-20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +12 °C with freezing level above 3000 m.

Tuesday

Sunny. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +10 °C with freezing level dropping to 2500 m in the afternoon.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
  • Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain as temperatures increase.
  • Cornices become weak with daytime heating or solar exposure.

Problems

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.