Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 16th, 2026–Apr 17th, 2026

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

Regions

Sea To Sky, South Coast Inland, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Wind slabs have been reactive and may remain triggerable on steep, lee features.

Check for potential slabs before entering committing terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are uncertain about how quickly the snowpack will recover and gain strength.
  • We are confident due to a stable weather pattern.

Avalanche Summary

An avalanche accident off the Duffey on Thursday resulted in assistance needed from search and rescue. See photo. Several other size 1 to 2 skier-triggered avalanches also occurred.

Numerous skier-triggered and natural storm slabs sized 1 to 2.5 were reported across the region on Wednesday. They generally failed on northerly alpine slopes.

Looking ahead, wind slabs will continue to be most concerning on lee north and east-facing features.

Snowpack Summary

15 to 30 cm of storm snow from earlier this week is slowly bonding to an underlying crust. Reactive wind slabs may still exist at upper elevations on shady northerly through easterly slopes.

Sun-affected slopes likely have a thin new sun crust, which may melt and soften with daytime warming.

The remaining snowpack has no current layers of concern, having undergone multiple melt-freeze cycles, forming a mix of crusts and dense, rounded snow. Lower elevations may have wet or isothermal snow to ground.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night
Mostly clear skies. 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C. Freezing level 1500 m dropping to 1000 m.

Friday
Mix of sun and clouds. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.

Saturday
Mix of sun and clouds. 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level rising to 2100 m.

Sunday
Mostly cloudy. 1 to 4 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 5 °C. Freezing level rising to 2600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Limit exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes, especially when the solar radiation is strong.

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.

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.