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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 4th, 2025–Mar 5th, 2025

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, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Coquihalla, Harrison-Fraser, Manning, Skagit.

New snow and wind could form reactive wind slabs atop a slippery crust.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Since the warm weekend, wet loose avalanches up to size 2 were observed. Wet avalanches have become unlikely as surfaces refreeze.

No persistent slab avalanche activity has been observed since over a week ago in the Manning area.

Snowpack Summary

Light snow on Tuesday night will bury crusty surfaces on all aspects and elevations. Beneath, 10 to 20 cm of snow is sandwiched between the surface and another crust.

A weak layer of facets and/or surface hoar is buried 50 to 120 cm deep. This layer has not produced avalanche activity for over a week but snowpack test results continued to show results, particularly in the Manning area.

A crust from December, buried 1 to 2 m deep, has been observed to be breaking down.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy. 10 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy. 20 to 40 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Friday

Mix of sun and cloud. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Triggering deep layers is more likely if the snow surface didn't freeze overnight.
  • Use extra caution around cornices: they are large, fragile, and can trigger slabs on slopes below.

Problems

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.

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.