Avalanche Forecast
Regions: East Island, North Island, South Island, Vancouver Island, West Island.
Fresh snow sits over unusually unstable surfaces, creating dangerous avalanche conditions. Stick to simple terrain and avoid overhead hazard.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
On Friday, natural and skier-triggered storm slabs up to size 1.5 were reported on west to northeast aspects near treeline. A widespread natural cycle is likely but observations have been limited during the storm.
Snowpack Summary
30 to 50 cm of new snow has accumulated since Thursday night. Near ridgetops, southwest wind has loaded new snow into leeward terrain features. The new snow is not expected to bond well to underlying surfaces including a hard crust in most areas, or facets and/or surface hoar on high north aspects.
The mid and lower snowpack is well-settled and dense with no layers of concern.
Weather Summary
Friday night
Cloudy with 3 to 8 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures dropping from -1 to -8 °C. Freezing level dropping 1000 m to valley bottom.
Saturday
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 40 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.
Sunday
Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -8 °C.
Monday
Cloudy with 1 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -10 °C.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Don't let the desire for deep powder pull you into high consequence terrain.
- Use conservative route selection. Choose simple, low angle terrain with no overhead hazard.
- Avoid freshly wind-loaded terrain features.
- Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the crust.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
Fresh storm slabs are not expected to bond well to underlying surfaces and will likely remain reactive through the weekend. They can be most easily triggered in wind-loaded terrain features and where they sit over a crust or weak grains.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5
Loose Dry
Be aware of the potential for loose avalanches in steep terrain where snow hasn't formed a slab.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2