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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 10th, 2025–Mar 11th, 2025

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

Regions

Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Howson.

Look for signs of instability and assess the bond between new snow and the old surface as you move through terrain.

Be ready to back off if there's a weak bond between new snow and the old surface. 

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

There have been reports of several large avalanches over the weekend.

Operators in the area have reported numerous storm slab and wind slab avalanches up to size 2.5. Notably, many of these avalanches were remote-triggered.

Reports of large persistent slab avalanches up to size 3.5 have also been reported.

There was also an avalanche involvement on Saturday near the Anderson cabin, reported in this MIN.

Snowpack Summary

20-30 cm of new snow is being redistributed by southerly winds. This new snow fell on a widespread layer of large surface hoar crystals, which sits on a crust on solar aspects and at low elevations. This should produce reactive or even touchy surface instabilities.

A layer of facets, surface hoar and/or a crust from mid-February are buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer produced large natural and human-triggered avalanches earlier this week.

The remainder of the snowpack is well consolidated with no concerns at this time.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 1 to 4 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level 900 m.

Wednesday

Partly Cloudy. 10 to 15 km south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 800 m.

Thursday

A mix of sun and cloud with isolated flurries. 1 to 3 cm of snow 10 to 15 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -2 °C. Freezing level 900 m.

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 aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried surface hoar.

Problems

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.

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.