Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 19th, 2023–Apr 20th, 2023

Alpine

Below Threshold.

Treeline

Below Threshold.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Alpine

Below Threshold.

Treeline

Below Threshold.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Alpine

Below Threshold.

Treeline

Below Threshold.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Regions

Chic-Choc Mountains, Littoral, Murdochville.

A brief return of winter on Thursday on the Chic-Chocs summits.

Possible snow ... and certainly the formation of a crust will make it difficult to travel on the mountain.

Don't forget your crampons and ice axes!

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

At the time of publication, no new avalanches had been observed or reported.

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Snowpack Summary

Temporary return of winter in the mountains on Thursday. According to the most optimistic models, we could find up to 4 cm of new snow on our summits. This new snow could create small isolated wind slabs in the alpine on the eastern, southeastern and southern slopes. The mild temperatures, low precipitation amounts and isolated nature of these slabs mean that we have not deemed it necessary to add it as an avalanche problem, but remain vigilant if you see signs of recent loading.Subzero alpine temperatures may make travel conditions difficult on the refreezing crust.In general, the rapid melting of the snowpack in recent days has exposed the ground, primarily at and below the treeline. Below the treeline, snow conditions are rather sticky and slow.Snowpack heights range from 20 cm (valley) to 110 cm (mid-mountain).

Weather Summary

Forecast for the Chic-Chocs ridges and summits.

Synopsis: A weak low over northern Quebec will be split in two by a ridge and will bring light precipitation to the Chic-Chocs.Wednesday evening and night: Light rain (3 mm) or snow (up to 4 cm in the alpine). Wind northwest, 30 to 40 km/h. Low -4. Freezing level 500 m.Thursday: Cloudy. Trace of snow. Wind 30 to 40 km/h from the northwest. Max. -2C. Freezing level at 500 m.Friday: Clearing, light precipitation late in the day. Wind 5 to 10 km/h from the southwest. Max. +5. Freezing level at 1100 m.Saturday: Cloudy. Wind 10 to 20 km/h from southeast. Max +8. Freezing level at 1200 m.For more details, see the Chic-Chocs alpine forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
Caution around slopes that are exposed to cornices overhead.

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.