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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 20th, 2025–Feb 21st, 2025

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Coquihalla, Harrison-Fraser, Manning, Skagit.

Storm snow is forming slabs on underlying soft snow, take extra care around ridgelines where the wind may have formed deeper pockets of snow.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

At the time of publishing, no new avalanches were reported in the past 7 days.

Snowpack Summary

An average of 20 cm of generally upside-down storm snow has fallen with variable wind, potentially forming wind slab on all aspects. In sheltered terrain this new snow may overlie soft, faceted snow or surface hoar. In exposed terrain it may have been blown down to the underlying crust.

In the Manning park area there has been less snow and significantly less wind.

At lower elevations a new crust is on or near the surface, and the new snow is wet and heavy.

A crust from December is buried 80 to 140 cm deep, with facets around it in shallow snowpack areas. Otherwise, the lower snowpack is strong and bonded.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1200 m.

Friday

Mainly cloudy with up to 10 mm of mixed precipitation. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 1800 m.

Saturday

Mainly cloudy with 5 mm of mixed precipitation. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 2200 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with 5 to 25 mm of mixed precipitation. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 2000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
  • The more the snowpack warms up and weakens, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.

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.

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.