Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 5th, 2026–Apr 6th, 2026

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

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

Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Boundary, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson, Ningunsaw.

Rising freezing levels, mixed precipitation, and moderate wind are creating dangerous avalanche conditions.

Continually assess as you travel, and stick to conservative terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

We are uncertain due to rapidly changing freezing levels.

Avalanche Summary

Numerous wet loose avalanches were reported on Saturday during the rise in freezing levels.

In the last week of March, a couple of natural wind slabs, size 2-2.5 were observed on north and east aspects in the alpine.

Persistent slab activity has tapered in the last week, but the snowpack structure remains suspect.

Snowpack Summary

Mixed precipitation starting as rain and switching to snow with dropping freezing levels has deposited up to 20 cm of snow in the alpine, at treeline and below moist surface snow is expected. This new snow will be redistributed by moderate south wind creating more reactive storm slabs in lee features.

This further buries various previous surfaces: a sun crust on solar aspects, faceted snow in sheltered northerly aspects and surface hoar.

Below this, A layer of facets and/or surface hoar from earlier in March can be found 50 to 100 cm deep.

Several persistent weak layers are buried up to 250 cm deep. While triggering these layers is becoming unlikely, they present a low-probability, high-consequence problem.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night
Cloudy. 4 to 10 mm of rain at treeline. 40 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

Monday
Cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 800 m.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 1 to 5 cm of snow. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Wednesday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 cm of snow. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

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.