Avalanche Forecast

Moderate

On Monday, avalanche activity reached size 3.5, with natural avalanches occurring during heavy snowfall and strong winds. Avalanches were triggered within the storm snow and on buried weak layers.

Several avalanches were remotely triggered (from a distance) or sympathetically by other avalanches, clear signs of instability.

While natural activity is expected to taper off, human triggering remains a concern.

Recent snowfall has settled to around 30 to 50 cm of new snow, with wind effect observed at higher elevations. Strong sunshine on Wednesday is expected to create moist snow on sun-exposed slopes and moist snow is also present at lower elevations due to recent warm temperatures and rain.

Two key weak layers are present in the mid snowpack: a surface hoar or thin crust from mid-February buried 40-60 cm deep, and faceted snow/surface hoar/crust from late January buried 60-100 cm deep.

These weak layers are expected to remain reactive from the heavy snowfall and warm temperatures. The remainder of the snowpack is generally well-settled.

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with flurries tapering off early evening. 10 to 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Freezing level drops to 500 m.

Wednesday

Mostly clear skies with morning cloud. 20 to 30 km/h southerly ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.

Thursday

Mostly clear skies. 40 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature +1 °C. Freezing level rising to 2000 m.

Friday

Clear skies. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature +5 °C. Freezing level rising to 2500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
• Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
• Even brief periods of direct sun could produce natural avalanches.
• Travel early on sun-exposed slopes before cornices weaken with daytime warming.