Avalanche Forecast

Issued: Apr 4th, 2015 9:18AM

The alpine rating is considerable, the treeline rating is moderate, and the below treeline rating is low. Known problems include Persistent Slabs and Storm Slabs.

bcorrigan, Avalanche Canada

Northwest Coastal.

Use caution in big terrain. Weak layers buried in the snowpack are still a concern. The potential for large destructive avalanches still exists in some areas. If you have observations you'd like to share with other riders, click here.

Summary

Confidence

Fair - Forecast snowfall amounts are uncertain

Weather Forecast

5-10cm today tapering off early Sunday morning. Daytime high freezing levels are expected to hover around 1300 m for Friday and Saturday and a bit higher on Sunday. Alpine winds are expected to belight throughout the weekend.

Avalanche Summary

No recent reports of avalanches have been received

Snowpack Summary

45-70 cm of recent settled storm snow is bonding slowly to a variety of old snow surfaces including a layer of surface hoar and facets buried on March 25th. This weakness, now down approximately 40 to 60cm is very touchy with a high propensity for propagating fractures, especially where the buried surface hoar exists. The problems seems more touchy in the northern part of the region, but has been reported throughout the northwest coastal area. Weaknesses have also been found within the recent storm snow with snowpack tests producing moderate sudden results in the top 20cm. The early March facet/crust persistent weakness is now down around a metre and appears unreactive with snowpack tests.

Problems

Persistent Slabs

Recent precipitation and wind are strengthening this layer building a stiff slab over the March 25 weakness. The slab thickness thins as the elevation decreases to a crust around 1300m.

Choose conservative lines and watch for clues of instability.>Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to the presence of buried surface hoar.>Dig down to find and test weak layers before committing to a line.>

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Likely

Expected Size

1 - 4

Storm Slabs

This layer is sitting on a crust and is slowly gaining strength, but could be triggered with a large load.

Be alert to conditions that change with aspect and elevation.>Stay off recent wind loaded areas until the slope has had a chance to stabilize.>

Aspects: All aspects.

Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.

Likelihood

Possible - Likely

Expected Size

1 - 3

Valid until: Apr 5th, 2015 2:00PM