Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
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.
Regions
Vancouver Island.
Main concerns: Loose Wet, Cornice Fall.
Travel & Terrain Advice
Avoid steep unsupported terrain and all steep terrain when you find the snow is saturated with moisture during the coming weather event. Give cornices a wide berth, when travelling above and below them.
Avalanche Summary
A well settled snow-pack has produced with ski testing some small surface instabilities in isolated steep terrain.
Snowpack Summary
Upper snow-pack remains low density with the mid and lower snow pack well settled and bonded. Previous wind slab instabilities have begun to settle and are bonding well.
Snowpack Details
Surface: new low density snow. Upper: well settled. Mid: well settled with a noted nonreactive crust. Lower: well settled.
Past Weather
Light snowfall, light wind and temperatures continuing to trend to cool have promoted settlement and stability over the past forecast period.
Weather Forecast
A strong westerly flow will bring to the forecast area rapidly rising freezing levels. Expect temperatures in the alpine to be warm with the freezing level reaching above 2200 meters. Precipitation will initially begin on Friday as snow becoming heavy rain by mid day and continuing as rain for the evening and well into Saturday. Following this storm relief will come in the form of an arctic high pressure bringing cooling temperatures and clearing sky on Sunday.
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.
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.