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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 7th, 2023–Mar 8th, 2023

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

Regions

Vancouver Island, East Island, North Island, South Island, West Island.

The most likely place to trigger an avalanche is in wind-loaded terrain features. In the north island around Mt Cain, wind slabs may be especially reactive due to an underlying crust, which can act as a slick bed surface for avalanches.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday our field team observed several size 1-2 wind slab avalanches at Mt Cain which they estimated to be around 1-2 days old. Some of them failed down to a buried crust.

Small (size 1) natural and explosives triggered avalanches were reported from the Mt Washington area on Monday.

If you head into the backcountry please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network!

Snowpack Summary

Small amounts of new snow continue to accumulate. 30-60 cm of recent snow has been blown into wind slabs at upper elevations.

A thick, widespread crust formed in mid February now sits 40-80 cm deep. Near Mt Cain, the crust is glassy with faceted crystals sitting on top of it, which makes for a poor bond to the overlying slab of snow. For more details, check out this reel from our field team! Elsewhere the crust seems to be bonding well. You can check the bond in your local area by performing a simple hand shear test on an isolated block.

The mid and lower snowpack is well consolidated, containing a series of well-bonded crusts.

Weather Summary

Tuesday night

Scattered cloud with a trace of snow possible. Moderate southerly wind. Alpine low -8 ˚C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with scattered flurries and sunny breaks. Up to 5 cm of snow possible. Moderate southeasterly wind. Alpine high -2 ˚C.

Thursday

Up to 10 cm of new snow overnight then a mix of sun and cloud. Strong southeast wind. Alpine high -1˚C.

Friday

A mix of sun and cloud. Light variable wind. Alpine high of 0 ˚C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful with wind slabs, especially in steep, unsupported and/or convex terrain features.
  • Wind slabs may be poorly bonded to the underlying crust.
  • Watch for signs of instability like whumpfing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks or recent avalanches.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.