Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 9th, 2025–Mar 10th, 2025

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus.

Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended on Monday.

The new storm snow is not bonding well to old surfaces. Human-triggered avalanches are very likely. Stick to conservative terrain.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

On Sunday, numerous natural and human-triggered storm slab avalanches were reported up to size 3. Storm slab avalanches were reported at all elevations.

On Saturday, numerous human-triggered storm slab avalanches were reported up to size 2 in treeline and below treeline features.

If you are headed to the backcountry, please consider sharing your photos and observations from your day on the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 110 cm of storm snow blankets the region. Strong southwest winds have redistributed storm snow into deep pockets on lee slopes at the ridgeline. Storm snow covers a crust on all aspects except on high north facing terrain, where new snow buries 10 to 15 cm of snow overlying a crust from earlier in March.

A layer of facets and surface hoar from mid February can be found down 100 to 140 cm.

Another layer of facets and surface hoar from late January can be found down 150 to 200 cm.

The lower snowpack contains several crusts that are not concerning.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy with light flurries, 1 to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level drops to 800 m.

Monday

Cloudy with light flurries, 1 to 2 cm. 20 to 35 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C. Freezing level around 800 m.

Tuesday

Partly cloudy with light flurries, 2 to 9 cm. 20 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level around 1000 m.

Wednesday

Partly cloudy with light flurries, 5 to 8 cm. 30 to 50 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level around 1000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
Keep your guard up at lower elevations. Storms slabs have been reactive at all elevations.
Avoid freshly wind-loaded terrain features.
Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeply buried weak layers and result in very large avalanches.

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.

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.