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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 23rd, 2025–Mar 24th, 2025

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Vancouver Island, East Island, North Island, South Island, West Island.

During periods of high hazard, avoid all avalanche terrain.

Snow, wind, and rain will rapidly destabilize the snowpack.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Looking ahead, we expect a large natural avalanche cycle to occur with snowfall and strong winds, followed by rain.

On Thursday, explosive-controlled wind slab avalanches up to size 2 occurred in steep, north-facing terrain. Some stepped down to the early March crust, up to 1.5 meters deep.

Snowpack Summary

20 to 30 cm of recent snow will then be saturated by 15 to 30 mm of rain up to 2000 m throughout Monday. At upper elevations, snow is accompanied by strong southwest winds, so we anticipate deeper deposits on north and east-facing slopes in the alpine. This sits over 60 to 90 cm of recent storm snow.

A robust crust, formed in early March, can be found in the mid-pack. The snow above is well bonded to this crust.

Below this, the snowpack is well consolidated and strong.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 20 mm, falling as snow above 1750 m. 60 km/h south ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 2 °C.

Monday

Cloudy with 15 to 30 mm, falling as snow above 2000 m, with greatest amounts in the southwest. 60 km/h south ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 3 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with up to 10 mm, falling as snow above 2500 m. 50 km/h south ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 5 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy with up to 5 mm, falling as snow above 2500 m. 50 km/h south ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind, or rain.
  • Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.
  • Only the most simple non-avalanche terrain with no overhead hazard is appropriate at this time.

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.

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.