Avalanche forecast

Sea To Sky

Jan 2 – 3, 2012Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
4 · High
Below
2 · Moderate
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Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely - Very Likely
    Size
    2–5
    Fresh wind slabs are lurking below ridgecrests, behind terrain features and in cross loaded gullies.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2–5
    Weaknesses within and under recent and new storm snow are susceptible to natural and human triggers.

Confidence

Good - -1

Weather Forecast

Tuesday: Up to 50cm possible for immediate coastal areas, freezing levels around 1500 but rising as high as 2500m by the evening, and strong to extreme southwesterly winds. Wednesday: Another 40-50mm expected for coastal areas with freezing levels dropping throughout the day to around 1600m, and continued strong to extreme southwesterly winds. Thursday: Light to moderate snowfall in the morning with a drying and cooling trend expected throughout the day.

Avalanche Summary

Check out the Incident Report Database (under the Bulletins tab) for a report of a close call involving snowmobilers south of Squamish over the weekend.

Snowpack Summary

Large cornices and wind slabs remain weak and wind-exposed areas are highly variable. Recent warm temperatures left a thin weak surface crust as high as alpine elevations, and helped settle out the weakness within and under last week's storm snow. In the mid snowpack, a weak rain crust extends up to treeline elevations, below which facets and/or surface hoar may be lurking. These weaknesses were recently responsible for large avalanches. Deep persistent weaknesses recently became active again with heavy triggers, and remain a concern in shallow rocky areas.

Regions covered