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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 17th, 2024–Feb 18th, 2024

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.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

South Coast, Powell River, North Shore, Sasquatch, Sasquatch, Sky Pilot, Tetrahedron.

Variable hard surfaces and low danger give way to a lingering wind slab problem in the region's highest elevations.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanches have been observed in the North Shore mountains.

A small (size 1) wind slab was triggered by a skier near Powell River on Wednesday (see photo). Because of the weak grains wind slabs have formed over, this type of reactivity is expected to persist.

Snowpack Summary

A surface crust exists to the top of the North Shore mountains. Higher elevations in other parts of the region have widespread wind-affected surfaces and more limited wind slab distribution over the same crust.

Conditions remain rugged at lower elevations.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Cloudy. Southeast alpine wind 10 - 20 km/h, easing. Freezing level falling to 1700 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with flurries bringing a trace of new snow. Southeast alpine winds 10 - 15 km/h. Treeline temperature around -1 °C with freezing level falling to 1200 m.

Monday

Mainly cloudy with isolated alpine flurries, minimal rain below about 1500 m. East alpine wind 5 - 10 km/h, easing. Treeline temperature +2 °C with freezing level reaching 1700 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with isolated flurries. Southwest alpine wind 5 - 10 km/h. Treeline temperature 0 °C with freezing levels around 1400 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.
  • A crust on the surface will help bind the snow together, but may make for tough travel conditions.

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.