Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 10th, 2026–Jan 11th, 2026

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Regions

Yukon, Tutshi, Wheaton, White Pass East, White Pass West.

Choose low consequence terrain.

The combination of ongoing snowfall, strong wind, and a persistent weak layer means avalanches are likely.

Confidence

Moderate

Uncertainty is due to the fact that persistent slabs are particularly difficult to forecast.

Avalanche Summary

On Wednesday, explosive control in the inland side of the region produced avalanches up to size 3. These avalanches released on a variety of layers including the facets in the lower snowpack. These avalanches entrained significant mass lower in the path.

No other avalanches have been reported in the past 3 days but observations are limited.

Snowpack Summary

Another 10 to 20 cm of storm snow is expected by Sunday afternoon, bringing storm totals to 45 to 70 cm. Alpine terrain is heavily wind-affected. South facing slopes are scoured and north through east slopes have significant amounts of wind deposited snow.

At treeline a small surface hoar layer can be found down 50 to 80 cm.

The lower snowpack is made up of 60 to 100 cm of weak facets with depth hoar in shallow locations.

Snowpack depths vary widely due to wind, around 130 to 250 cm in the alpine across the region.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy. 10 to 15 cm of snow. 40 to 70 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Sunday
Mostly cloudy. Up to 5 cm of snow. 30 to 60 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Monday
Mostly cloudy. 2 to 5 cm of snow. 50 to 80 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

Tuesday
Cloudy. 5 to 10 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy snowfall.
It's a good day to make conservative terrain choices.
Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.

Problems

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.

Persistent Slabs

Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.