Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Powell River, Sea To Sky, Spearhead, Stave, Tantalus.
Recent storm snow will take time to settle.
Watch out in areas where the wind has deposited large amounts of new snow.
Confidence
Moderate
Avalanche Summary
On Tuesday, local operators were able to trigger size 2 storm slab avalanches with explosives and also had a skier accidental storm slab avalanche.
Also on Tuesday, there was a size one human-triggered avalanche with involvement. More details of their well executed companion rescue can be found here on the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
In the alpine strong southerly winds will have redistributed 20 to 50 cm storm snow. These fresh wind slabs will be sitting on old wind-affected surfaces and hard crusts at higher elevations. In more sheltered areas the new snow will be more consolidated but sitting on similar surfaces. At lower elevations, recent precipitation may have fallen as rain.
A crust from mid-January can be found down 40 to 70 cm deep. A number of weak layers exist within the middle and lower snowpack, but the thick crusts sitting above them make triggering avalanches on these layers unlikely. The areas of concern in terms of triggering a deeper layer are shallow rocky areas where the snowpack varies from thick to thin.
Weather Summary
Wednesday Night
Increasing clouds, 2 to 4 cm accumulation, wind southwest 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -8 C and cooling.
Thursday
Cloudy, up to 10 cm accumulation ending by noon, wind south 30 to 40 km/h, treeline temperatures -3 C.
Friday
Cloudy, up to 35 cm accumulation that will be starting late evening on Thursday with another pulse late in the day, winds south 40 km/h, treeline temperatures -3 to -5 C.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy, 2 to 5 cm accumulation, wind southwest 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -5 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.
- Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
- Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
Recent storm snow combined with wind and warm temperatures will promote slab production and reactivity.
Southerly winds have transported much of this new snow at higher elevation. Expect wind slabs in the immediate lee of exposed areas.
At lower elevations precipitation may fall as wet snow or rain, watch for loose wet avalanche potential on steep slopes as the surface snow loses cohesion.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2