Avalanche Forecast
Regions: East Island, North Island, South Island, Vancouver Island.
New storm and wind slabs will build throughout the day. These new slabs likely won't bond well to the underlying crust. Be prepared to make conservative decisions.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday.
We are confident the likelihood of avalanches will increase throughout the day on Friday.
Snowpack Summary
Up to 20cm of new snow has likely been redistributed into wind slabs on north aspects and cross loading on east and west. A new crust likely extends from 1000m up to 1600m. Below 1000m the snow surface could still be moist.
Once again terrain below treeline has limited or no coverage.
Weather Summary
Thursday Night
Cloudy with 5 to 15mm of new precipitation . Moderate to strong southeast winds and Freezing levels rising to 1200m.
Friday
Stormy with 10 to 30mm of new precipitation expected. Light to moderate southwest winds and freezing levels rising to 1400m.
Saturday
Cloudy with light flurries bringing up to 5mm of new precipitation. Light to moderate westerly winds and freezing level around 1200m.
Sunday
Mostly cloudy with the possibility of light flurries bringing trace amounts of new snow. Light southerly winds and freezing levels around 1100m.
More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.
Terrain and Travel Advice
- Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
- Be alert to conditions that change with aspect and elevation.
- Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the crust.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
New snow and wind will form storm slabs throughout the day. The largest and most reactive slabs will likely be found on north and east aspects. Avalanches could be larger than expected due to the crust slabs will form over.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Very Likely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 2.5