Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 20th, 2026–Jan 21st, 2026

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.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Boundary, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson.

Cornice failures have the potential to create large avalanches.

Be aware of what is above you before entering large or committing slopes.

Confidence

Moderate

Uncertainty is due to the fact that cornice falls are particularly difficult to forecast.

Avalanche Summary

January 19

Numerous large (up to size 3) explosive triggered avalanche were reported. Mostly failing as cornices or persistent slabs.

January 18

A large (size 2) natural glide slab avalanche was reported below treeline.
A large avalanche (unknown size) was heard but not witnessed during the daytime warming.

January 16 & 17

A few large (size 2) natural avalanches were reported. On south aspects they are loose wet and on north and east aspects they are cornice failures.

Snowpack Summary

On the surface there is a crust and at lower elevations surface hoar is growing.

In terrain exposed to the wind, small wind slabs are forming on lee aspect terrain.

At treeline, very warm and wet surface snow has now become a melt freeze crust. Expect this crust to be supportive to ski and foot weight.

A layer of large surface hoar is buried 90 to 150 cm in sheltered treeline features. The mid and lower snowpack is well settled with no current layers of concern. Treeline snow depths throughout the region range from 250 cm to 450 cm.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night
Clear skies. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 2600 m.

Wednesday
Mostly sunny. 10 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C with an above freezing layer between 1800 m and 2200 m.

Thursday
Sunny. 10 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Friday
Sunny. 20 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain; avalanches may run surprisingly far.
Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

Problems

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.