Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 6th, 2018–Mar 7th, 2018

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

Regions

South Coast.

Rising freezing levels and sunny breaks will weaken the surface snow. Danger will increase with the incoming storm on Thursday and Friday.

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

WEDNESDAY: Sunny with high clouds in the afternoon, light southwest wind, freezing level rising to around 1800 m.THURSDAY: Flurries increasing throughout the day with 5-10 cm of snow by the afternoon, moderate southwest wind, freezing level rising to around 1200 m.FRIDAY: Another 5-10 cm of snow with freezing level rising to around 1200 m.

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanches have been reported.A MIN report from just outside the region near Squamish (Watersprite Lake) describes a natural size 2 avalanche that failed on a south aspect at 1750 m (see photo and details here). Also, check out the MCR report from the Sea-to-Sky Gondola (here) that talks about the strong late winter sun initiating up to size 2 natural avalanches last week.

Snowpack Summary

Isolated flurries are depositing light amounts of new snow throughout the region and sporadic sunny breaks could weaken the surface snow. 50-70 cm of snow from last week is settling and gaining strength. On southerly aspects, the storm snow sits above a sun crust which is a potential layer to monitor.Cornices have formed on many alpine ridgelines. They will become touchier as they grow in size, as temperatures rise, and as they are subject to the strong late-winter sun on clear days.

Problems

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.