Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 15th, 2026–Jan 16th, 2026

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

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

Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Boundary, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson, Microwave-Sinclair.

Expect increasing avalanche danger in the afternoon especially on steep south facing terrain in the alpine.

Confidence

Moderate

Uncertainty is due to how quickly the snowpack will recover and gain strength.
Uncertainty is due to rapidly fluctuating freezing levels.
The number, quality, or consistency of field observations is good, and supports our confidence.

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanches were reported Thursday as activity eased with cooler temperatures.

On Wednesday, a widespread natural avalanche cycle was reported by numerous operations, throughout all elevations and aspects as snowfall, rainfall and warming persisted. Activity includes failures in recent storm snow, loose wet releases, as well as deeper weak layers such as the early January surface hoar and the late December crust.

Snowpack Summary

Cooling temperatures, have likely begun to reconsolidate previous moist and wet surface snow, with widespread reports of a developing surface melt freeze crust. Past storm totals vary from 130-250 cm throughout the region, heavily redistributed by strong southerly winds at upper elevations.

At treeline, a very warm and wet surface snow has now become a melt freeze crust. Expect this crust to become supportive to ski and foot weight but possible for a snowmobile to penetrate it.

A layer of large surface hoar is buried 90 to 150 cm in sheltered treeline features. The mid and lower snowpack is well settled with no current layers of concern. Treeline snow depths throughout the region range from 250 cm to 450 cm.

Weather Summary

Thursday Night
Clear skies. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 2300 m.

Friday
Sunny. 10 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 3300 m.

Saturday
Sunny. 20 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 5 °C. Freezing level 3200 m.

Sunday
Mostly sunny. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 5 °C. Freezing level 3200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Be alert to conditions that change with elevation and sun exposure.
Avoid exposure to overhead avalanche terrain; avalanches may run surprisingly far.

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.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.