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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 5th, 2023–Apr 6th, 2023

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

Regions

Vancouver Island, East Island, North Island, South Island.

Fresh and reactive wind slabs will develop over the day. Step back into conservative terrain choices as snowfall accumulates. Higher snowfall is expected as you travel further west.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Recent avalanche activity has been limited to small (size 1) loose dry avalanches out of steep northerly aspects.

Snowpack Summary

Fresh snow with strong southerly winds will form deeper deposits in north facing terrain features. Precipitation below 1000 m may fall as rain. New snow/rain falls over dry snow on shaded slopes at higher elevations, and over a crust on south facing slopes and low elevations. New snow bonding to this crust should be suspect.

The middle and lower portions of the snowpack are strong and well-bonded.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy, up to 15 cm of snow overnight with strong southerly winds. Freezing levels remain around 1000 m.

Thursday

Cloudy, with 10-25 cm. Highest amounts in the south and unusually in the east , around Mt Washington. Strong to extreme southerly winds. Freezing levels reaching 1500 m.

Snowfall continues overnight around 10-20 cm.

Friday

Cloudy with light snowfall continuing: 5-10 cm, moderate southwest winds. Freezing levels around 1000 m.

Saturday

Cloudy with 5 cm of snow possible, strong southwest winds. Freezing levels around 1000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • Be careful to keep storm day fever from luring you out into bigger terrain features.
  • Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow, wind or rain.

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.