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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 9th, 2024–Dec 10th, 2024

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.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Sea To Sky, South Coast Inland, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Birkenhead, Duffey, Harrison-Fraser, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Rising temperatures are increasing the chance of avalanches. Monitor the conditions and back off slopes as the surface becomes wet.

Reactive wind slabs may exist in high elevation terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Over the weekend, explosive and skier controlled storm slabs were reported up to size 2.

If you are going out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Snowpack Summary

The surface snow will likely become wet due to warm alpine temperatures.

In the alpine, 20 to 40 cm of snow from the weekend sits above a thin crust. Below the crust there are no layers of concern in the well-settled snowpack.

Below 1800 m, there may be 10-20 cm of snow overtop a thicker crust capping a rain-soaked snowpack.

Snow depths at treeline are around 100 cm near Whistler, and 70 cm in the Duffy.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Clear periods. <15 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level at valley bottom with a strong alpine temperature inversion.

Tuesday

Cloudy with sunny periods and isolated rain showers. <15 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +5 °C. Freezing level 2800 m.

Wednesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +3 °C. Freezing level 2100 m.

Thursday

New snow 5 to 10 cm. 15 to 35 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing 1300 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
  • Loose avalanches may start small, but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
  • Be alert to conditions that change with aspect and elevation.

Problems

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.

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.