Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 12th, 2020–Feb 13th, 2020

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

Regions

South Coast.

New snow and wind will build storm slabs through the day Thursday. Where new snow depths exceed 20 cm, avalanche danger will rise to CONSIDERABLE in the alpine.

Confidence

Moderate - Uncertainty is due to the track & intensity of the incoming weather system.

Weather Forecast

Wednesday night: Cloudy. Winds moderate southwest. Freezing level 900 m.

Thursday: 10-25 cm new snow. Winds moderate southwest. Freezing level 1000 m.

Friday: Flurries. Winds moderate southwest. Freezing level 800 m.

Saturday: 10-20 cm new snow. Winds strong southwest. Freezing level around 1000 m.

Avalanche Summary

A small skier triggered slab avalanche on the rain crust was reported on Saturday (see this MIN report). The bond at this interface appears to be strengthening over time.

Snowpack Summary

Storm slabs will build through the day Thursday. The new snow is falling on wind affected snow in the alpine and dense, well settled snow at lower elevations. A thick rain crust sits 40-50 cm below the surface. The snowpack below consists of moist to wet snow and is well settled. Snowpack depths are in the range of 200-250 cm around the peaks of the North Shore mountains (1400 m), tapering quickly with elevation to almost nothing below 1000 m.

Terrain and Travel

  • Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
  • Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 20 cm of new snow.

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.