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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 6th, 2025–Jan 7th, 2025

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

Regions

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

Lingering wind slabs may persist on northerly aspects at the highest elevations.

If the snow surface is moist or wet, loose wet avalanches are possible.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Sunday, a loose wet avalanche was observed (see 1st photo below for details).

On Saturday, skiers triggered a size 2 avalanche in the Mt Washington backcountry.

On Thursday and Friday, riders triggered small (size 1-1.5) wind slab avalanches in lee features at upper elevations. (Slidetastic 5040 MIN)

On Friday morning, explosives triggered several small wind slab avalanches from steep northerly terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Elevated freezing levels and sunshine turned much of the snowpack moist or wet on Monday. Increased cloud cover on Tuesday may cool the snowpack enough to form a surface crust - which will decrease the hazard, but make for poor riding conditions.

Dry snow and lingering wind slabs may persist on northerly aspects at the highest elevations.

The rest of the snowpack currently has no layers of concern, and is made up of well-settled storm snow, rounded snow crystals, and a series of crusts.

Snowpack depths at treeline average 200 to 300 cm.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Clear. 40 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +5 °C. Freezing level 3000 m.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 3 cm of snow. 65 to 85 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +3 °C, freezing level 2500 m.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 15 to 30 km/h ridgetop northwest wind. Treeline temperature +3°C, freezing level 2500 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with 0 to 8 cm of snow. 60 to 80 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +5 °C, freezing level 3000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
  • Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.

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.

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.