Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 5th, 2025–Apr 6th, 2025

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 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, human triggered possible.

Regions

North Columbia, South Columbia, Esplanade, Jordan, North Monashee, North Selkirk, Badshot-Battle, Central Selkirk, Goat, Gold, Retallack, Valhalla, Whatshan.

Warm temps and strong sun are likely to cause cornices to fail, potentially triggering the persistent slab.

Wet loose avalanches are very likely with a warm night and incoming sun.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Friday, numerous large (size 2) explosive triggered cornice avalanches where reported. Additional reports of large naturally occurring loose wet avalanches where observed in the afternoon.

On Thursday, a few large (size 2) wet loose avalanches where observed.

Large natural cornice failures continue to be reported and are a prime suspect for triggering large persistent slab avalanches.

Snowpack Summary

On the surface, up to 30 cm of recent snow exists on northerly aspects in the alpine. Solar aspects and lower elevations will present a crust or moist snow.

Below this, a 5 to 25 cm variable strength crust from last week's rain event is present. This is capping a moist upper snowpack.

The primary weak layer of concern was buried in early March consisting of surface hoar, facets, and a crust is now 80 to 150 cm deep.

Deeper weak layers from February and January are buried 150 to 200 cm deep.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Clear. 10 to 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline +3 °C. Freezing level 2500 m.

Sunday

Sunny with increasing clouds in the afternoon. 20 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +6 °C. Freezing level rising to 3000 m.

Monday

Cloudy with snow and rain 5 to 10 cm . 15 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with snow and rain 5 to 10 cm. 20 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.
Travel early on sun-exposed slopes before cornices weaken with daytime warming.
The more the snowpack warms up and weakens, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.

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.

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.