Avalanche Forecast
Regions: East Island, North Island, South Island, Vancouver Island, West Island.
Heavy rain and extreme winds are forecast to continue; anticipate loose wet avalanche activity at all elevations.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
On Friday the field team reported seeing numerous small loose wet avalanches in the Mt. Arrowsmith area. For more details check out their MIN.
With the current warm and very wet conditions hitting the Island we suspect a natural avalanche cycle is ongoing.
Snowpack Summary
Rain has saturated the snowpack right to mountaintop elevations.
In the mid-snowpack, a crust/facet combination may exist in high alpine terrain.
The potential remains for wet slabs to be triggered on this crust in isolated areas.
Otherwise, the mid and lower snowpack contains a series of old crusts and is currently well-bonded and strong.
Weather Summary
Saturday Night
Cloudy with heavy rain, southwest alpine winds 60-80 km/h, treeline temperature 8°C, freezing levels around 2500 m.
Sunday
Cloudy with moderate to heavy rain, southwest alpine winds 60-70 km/h, treeline temperature 8°C, freezing levels around 2500 m.
Monday
Cloudy with very heavy rain, south alpine winds 100 km/h, treeline temperature 10°C, freezing levels around 2800 m.
Tuesday
Cloudy with light rain, southwest alpine winds 30-40 km/h, treeline temperature 6°C, freezing levels around 2000 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- If triggered loose wet avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
- Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.
Avalanche Problems
Loose Wet
Rain at lower elevations continues to melt and weaken the snowpack. While unlikely, the potential remains for wet slabs to fail in isolated areas.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Very Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2.5