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 17th, 2026–Mar 18th, 2026

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Alpine
Widespread avalanches certain.
Treeline
Widespread avalanches certain.
Below Treeline
Widespread avalanches certain.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Regions

Glacier.

We are expecting to see large destructive avalanches this week.

Now is a good time to stay out of the backcountry.

Confidence

High

  • We are confident the likelihood of avalanches will increase with the forecast weather.

Avalanche Summary

We expect a significant, destructive series of natural avalanche cycles this week, especially as the rain continues to soak the snowpack.

Avalanche control on Tuesday night produced avalanches up to size 3.5

Neighbouring operations are still reporting sporadic, persistent slab natural avalanche activity up to sz 3.

Information on how to deal with persistent slab problems, see the Avalanche Canada blog post.

Snowpack Summary

Moderate to strong southerly winds have loaded lee features in the alpine. Heavy rain is soaking the snowpack to Treeline elevations.

In the Alpine and at Treeline, 50-100cm of storm snow has fallen since Mar 8.Below treeline, 50-70 cm of storm snow covers the Mar 8 rain crust, which is present up to 1900m

The Feb 9 and Jan 26 surface hoar (SH) layers are now buried 110-170cm deep. The Jan 26th layer is a crust with either surface hoar (up to 40mm in some places!) or facets on top of it

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain; avalanches may run surprisingly far.
  • Look for signs of instability: whumphing, hollow sounds, shooting cracks, and recent avalanches.

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.

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.