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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 29th, 2025–Mar 30th, 2025

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Vancouver Island, East Island, North Island, South Island, West Island.

Where there's dry snow (at the highest elevations), check for wind slabs around ridgelines and in leeward terrain.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Looking forward, we expect small wind slabs may have formed at upper elevations.

Small loose wet avalanches out of steep terrain on northwest-facing slopes were reported on Thursday around Mt Washington.

Snowpack Summary

5 cm of new snow falls on 20 cm of moist snow at upper elevations and a wet and unconsolidated upper snowpack below 1100 m, from above-freezing temperatures and rain.

A robust crust, formed in early March, can be found in the mid-pack. The snow above is well bonded to this crust. Below this, the snowpack is well consolidated and strong.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Mostly cloudy. 30 km/h southeast ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1100 m.

Sunday

Clearing to sunny. 45 to 60 km/h southeast ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Monday

Cloudy with 5 to 15 mm falling as snow above 1000 m. 10 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1250 m.

Tuesday

Partly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h northwest ridgetop winds. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
  • Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.

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.