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

Jan 9th, 2024–Jan 10th, 2024

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

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

Dangerous avalanche conditions remain as new snow settles and the snowpack adjusts to the new load. Human-triggering potential persists as natural avalanche activity tapers off.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Tuesday, operators in the area reported numerous storm slab avalanches, triggered by explosives, up to size 3.

On Saturday, several natural persistent slab avalanches were reported to size 3 in the Whistler backcountry. These avalanches primarily occurred on northerly aspects in the alpine.

Snowpack Summary

30 to 50 cm of storm snow overlies wind-affected surface in exposed areas and in sheltered areas a weak layer of surface hoar.

A melt-freeze crust is found down 60 to 80 cm and becomes thin and variable above 1900 m.

Another crust from early Dec is down 80-150 cm. A few large avalanches observed in the region on January 6 are suspected to have failed on this layer.

Snowpack depths are 120-230 cm around treeline and decrease rapidly below.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries, 2 to 6 cm of snow. Northwest ridgetop winds 10 to 25 km/h. Treeline temperature -9 °C.

Wednesday

Mainly sunny. Northerly valley bottom outflow wind 25 to 40 km/h and northwest ridgetop winds 10 to 20 km/h. Treeline temperature -12 °C.

Thursday

Mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries, trace amounts of snow. Southwest ridgetop winds 10 to 40 km/h. Treeline temperatures drop through the day to -17 °C.

Friday

Sunny skies. Northwest ridgetop winds 20 to 50 km/h. Treeline temperatures -25 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Give the new snow time to settle and stabilize before pushing into bigger terrain.
  • Avoid freshly wind loaded features, especially near ridge crests, roll-overs and in steep terrain.
  • Be aware of the potential for surprisingly large avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.

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.