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

Apr 11th, 2026–Apr 12th, 2026

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

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Don't let poor visibility or flat light mess with your cornice avoidance when the clouds roll in. Light rain should keep them close to the tipping point and the snowpack close to isothermal.

Confidence

High

  • We have a good understanding of the snowpack structure and confidence in the weather forecast.

Avalanche Summary

Activity in the region has been on a downward trend, with cornices accounting for most of the interesting recent observations.

A cornice fall above Armchair Glacier was seen Wednesday, suspected to have failed 12 - 24 hours earlier. It triggered a slab on the slope below (adding up to size 3), likely on one of the persistent layers mentioned in our snowpack summary. A second size 2 cornice fall on a NE aspect at about 2500 m was observed by another group in the Duffey corridor.

Snowpack Summary

Sustained high freezing levels with a bit of insulating cloud cover and even rain should work against crust recovery and likely keep the snowpack below 2000 m close to an isothermal state. Rain may fall to around the 2300 m mark, affecting some cornices and up to about 10 cm of windblown old dry snow hiding on north-facing slopes above 2000 m. This snow overlies old wind-affected snow above this elevation and a firm crust below.

Two older crusts exist 1-1.5 m deep at treeline and above. Concern for these layers is limited to high north aspects where large cornice fall may have enough force to trigger a slab, like what was observed on Armchair Glacier on Wednesday. The snowpack below these layers is well settled.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night
Coudy with light rain, 4 to 5 mm. 10 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 2 °C. Freezing level 2300 m.

Sunday
Mostly cloudy with scattered showers, 2 to 4 mm. 10 to 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind, increasing. Treeline high temperature 3 °C. Freezing level to 2300 m.

Monday
Mostly cloudy with scattered showers, less than 1 mm. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature 3 °C. Freezing level to 2000 m.

Tuesday
Cloudy with wet flurries bringing up to about 10 cm of new snow above 1400 m, rain below. 50 to 60 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline high temperature -1 °C. Freezing level to 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • Keep in mind that the high density of wet avalanches can make them destructive.
  • Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.

Problems

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.

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.