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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 14th, 2023–Feb 15th, 2023

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

Regions

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

Wind slabs may linger near the mountain tops on atypical slopes.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

We didn't hear of any new avalanche observations on Sunday or Monday. Numerous small storm slabs released on Saturday during stormy weather.

Looking forward, human-triggered wind slab avalanches are possible in southerly slopes near mountain tops.

Snowpack Summary

On sun-exposed slopes and below 1000 m, a surface melt-freeze crust exists from Tuesday's sun and warm air. Above 1000 m on shaded slopes, anywhere from a dusting to 10 cm of dry snow rests above a melt-freeze crust that formed during the weekend's rain. Strong to extreme northerly wind redistributed this snow into wind slabs on atypical southerly slopes. These wind slabs may linger at high elevations.

The remainder of the snowpack is consolidated and strong.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Increasing clouds with no precipitation, 20 km/h west wind, treeline temperature -3 °C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with light snowfall, accumulation 1 to 3 cm, 30 km/h southwest wind, treeline temperature -3 °C, freezing level 600 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with snowfall, accumulation 10 to 20 cm, 60 km/h southwest wind, treeline temperature -2 °C, freezing level 800 m.

Friday

Cloudy with snowfall then clearing, accumulation 5 cm, 20 km/h northwest wind, treeline temperature -2 °C, freezing level 800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Carefully evaluate steep lines for wind slabs.
  • When a thick, melt-freeze surface crust is present, avalanche activity is unlikely.

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.