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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 20th, 2024–Mar 21st, 2024

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

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Avalanche hazard may have improved, but be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and remain possible to human trigger.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday, no new avalanches were reported in the region.

On Sunday, a size 1.5, skier remote, persistent slab avalanche was reported on a northwest aspect at 2200 m.

Through the prolonged warming event, avalanche activity in the region was observed up to size 4.5. Steep rocky terrain and direct solar slopes were the most impacted. Evidence of this natural avalanche cycle will still be visible to backcountry users who head into the mountains on Thursday.

Snowpack Summary

A dusting of new snow covers a crust of varying thicknesses on solar aspects, moist snow below treeline and on north-facing terrain above 1900 m, dry snow. Below the crust, the upper 30 cm of the snowpack remains moist.

60 to 170 cm down is a layer of facets overlying a crust. This layer has been the culprit in recent human-triggered avalanches. It remains a concern on northerly aspects above 1800 m, where the layer may still be reactive to human triggering.

Below the crust, the snowpack is well settled.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Mainly cloudy with 1 to 2 cm of snow. 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1°C. Freezing levels 1500m.

Thursday

Cloudy with 1 to 3 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1°C. Freezing level 1600m.

Friday

Cloudy with 1 to 6 cm of snow. 10 to 20 km/h variable ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2°C. Freezing levels rise from 800 to 1500m in the afternoon.

Saturday

Cloudy with 2 to 9 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3°C. Freezing levels rise from 800 to 1300m in the afternoon.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Keep in mind that human triggering potential persists as natural avalanching tapers off.
  • Avoid shallow, rocky areas where the snowpack transitions from thick to thin.
  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.