Avalanche Forecast
Regions: Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Powell River, Sea To Sky, Spearhead, Tantalus, Tetrahedron.
Stormy conditions begin Friday, burying a weak, unconsolidated layer produced during the recent cold snap.
Confidence
High
Avalanche Summary
No notable recent avalanches have been reported. Expect avalanche activity to start with new snow, wind, and warming temperatures starting Friday.
Please continue to post your observations and photos to the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
New snow will accumulate throughout the day, accompanied by strong winds. New snow will generally overlie a facetted, weak, unconsolidated layer formed during the recent cold snap.
A number of layers persist deeper in the snowpack, consisting of facets, surface hoar, and crusts.
Total snow depths are roughly 90 to 140 cm at treeline and up to 200 cm in the alpine.
Weather Summary
Thursday night
Cloudy with snow, 5 to 10 cm. Temperatures -10 to -15 C and mostly light south winds.
Friday
Cloudy with snow, about 10 cm. Temperatures of -5 to -10 C, and moderate to strong southwest winds.
Saturday
Cloudy with heavy snowfall, 30 to 40 cm. Temperatures around 0 to -5 C and strong south winds in the alpine. Freezing levels rise to roughly 1000m.
Sunday
Cloudy with snow, 10 to 20 cm. Temperatures around 0 C and moderate south winds in the alpine.
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.
- Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Avalanche Problems
Storm Slabs
New snow accumulating through the day will bury a sugary, weak, unconsolidated layer. Storm slabs will become increasingly reactive with continued snow, and wind through Friday and into the weekend.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: All elevations.
Likelihood: Likely
Expected Size: 1 - 2
Persistent Slabs
A crust with weak, facetted snow above and below is buried by roughly 50 to 150 cm of snow. Although unlikely to be human triggered, smaller avalanches have the potential to step down, creating large avalanches.
Aspects: All aspects.
Elevations: Alpine, Treeline.
Likelihood: Unlikely
Expected Size: 1.5 - 3