Avalanche Forecast
Regions: North Shore, Powell River, South Coast, Tetrahedron.
Another soggy day of wet snow hazards. A mix of rain and wet snow (but mostly rain) should keep wet loose avalanche conditions on life support on Thursday.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
Observations have been very limited, however we are confident that a natural avalanche cycle has occurred and potentially continues with more rain and warm temperatures.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack has been heavily saturated by recent rainfall. The entire snowpack is likely isothermal in most areas.
At lower elevations, the snowpack continues to melt away at an alarming rate. Below treeline coverage in many areas has returned to below threshold depth for avalanches.
Weather Summary
Wednesday night
Cloudy with another 15 mm of rain accumulating. Strong southeast winds.
Thursday
Cloudy with 5 to 15 mm of rain or wet snow in high alpine. Southeast alpine winds 20 to 40 km/h. Treeline temperature +2 and falling over the day with freezing levels around 1600-1800 m.
Friday
Cloudy with trace precipitation, south alpine winds 20 to 30 km/h. Treeline temperature 0°C with freezing levels around 1400 m.
Saturday
Cloudy, then clearing over the day. Alpine wind northeast 10-20 km/h. Treeline temperature around 0 with freezing levels around 1400 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.
- The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
- Loose avalanches may start small but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
Avalanche Problems
Loose Wet
The entire snowpack has been saturated and weakened by rain and warm temperatures. Loose wet avalanches are most likely in steep or unsupported terrain features.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Possible - Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5