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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 31st, 2024–Feb 1st, 2024

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

Regions

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

Windslab avalanches may be possible on the highest peaks.

Elsewhere, wet avalanches are possible where the rain hasn't washed away the snowpack.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported on Wednesday before 4 pm.

Snowpack Summary

In general, rain has saturated the snowpack to mountain top. It may be possible to find new, dry snow in the highest elevation alpine terrain. Below treeline, the snowpack has melted out almost entirely, leaving it below threshold for avalanches.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Cloudy. 5-10 mm of rain expected below 1500 m (20 mm or more on the west island). Strong south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around 2 °C.

Thursday

Cloudy. 5-10 cm of snow expected above 1100 m. Strong south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around 1 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy. Light rain/snow expected. Moderate to strong south ridgetop wind. Freezing level around 1250 m.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy. Light rain/snow expected. Light northwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level around 1100 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
  • Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.
  • Avoid lee and cross loaded slopes in the alpine.

Problems

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.

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.