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

Regions

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

Fresh wind slabs will form as new snow and wind bury a slippery crust.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No recent avalanche activity has been reported since last Saturday.

However, last week a flurry of very large, scary persistent slab avalanche activity was reported at alpine and treeline elevations. These avalanches are becoming less likely, but the consequences of triggering one remain high.

Snowpack Summary

As much as 20 cm of new snow now sits atop a widespread surface crust.

Beneath, 60 to 80 cm of well-settled snow sits over a weak layer of facets and surface hoar buried in mid-February. Recent snowpack tests indicate this layer may be starting to gain strength.

Another weak layer, from late January, is buried 80 to 120 cm deep. This may present as a crust on sunny slopes, sugary facets in most places, and surface hoar in sheltered spots. Large natural, remote, and human-triggered avalanches were reported on this layer last week.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of snow. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 0 to 5 cm of snow. 0 to 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Thursday

Sunny. 20 to 30 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

Friday

Mostly sunny. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C.

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.
  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
  • A hard crust on the snow surface will help strengthen the snowpack, but may cause tough travel conditions.

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.