Avalanche Forecast
Regions: East Island, North Island, South Island, Vancouver Island, West Island.
Recent warm weather has transformed our snow back into a typical coastal snowpack.
Take extra caution on steep slopes when they are in full sun.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday, a loose wet avalanche cycle occurred up to size 1.5 at treeline and below treeline as a result of the rain.
With this warming event, remember that even a small loose wet avalanche can push a rider into or over a terrain trap, such as a cliff or gully feature.
Snowpack Summary
A surface crust caps the snowpack, ranging from 3 cm below treeline to 1 cm in the alpine. The sun and heat will likely disintegrate this crust, but there is a chance of it being preserved on north aspects in the alpine.
The upper snowpack consists of 10-30 cm of rapidly settling and increasingly moist snow. This sits on a pronounced melt-freeze crust below 1500 m. Above 1500 m this melt-freeze crust begins to lose strength and is 1 cm thick or less.
The mid and lower snowpack remain moist and are generally well-settled and dense.
Weather Summary
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy. No new precipitation. Northwesterly winds 50 km/h. Treeline temperature 5 °C. Freezing level 2700 m.
Thursday
Increasing cloudiness. Trace precipitation late in the day. Northwesterly winds building through the day, 40-60 km/h. Treeline temperature 5 °C. Freezing level falling through the day 2500 to 1500 m
Friday
Mainly sunny. Trace precipitation. Northwesterly winds, 50-70 km/h. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.
Saturday
Sunny. No new precipitation. Northeasterly winds, 40 km/h. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 700 m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Avoid steep slopes when air temperatures are warm, or solar radiation is strong.
- The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
Avalanche Problems
Loose Wet
The continued warm temperatures will promote pinwheeling, and wet snow sliding at all elevations.
Aspects: East, South East, South, South West, West.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 1.5