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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 14th, 2023–Jan 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

South Coast, North Shore, Sasquatch, Sky Pilot, Tetrahedron.

Below the freezing line, the potential for wet loose avalanches still exists.

Watch for unstable snow on specific terrain features, especially where snow is moist or wet.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

A few natural wet loose avalanches, size 1, were reported at treeline on Saturday.

Backcountry users should expect to see evidence of a wet loose avalanche cycle from this week's rain event.

Thanks for the observations and please continue to post your reports and photos to the Mountain Information Network. It is really helpful for forecasters!

Snowpack Summary

Up to 100 mm of rain, this week has saturated the snowpack at all elevations. The snowpack at treeline and below is now isothermal to the ground. A few crusts formed in early January and late December can still be found within the snowpack but they are rapidly breaking down.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy. Southeast winds of 25 km/h. Ridgetop low-temperature +3C. Freezing levels 1500 m.

Sunday

Mainly cloudy. Light variable winds gusting 20 km/h. Ridgetop high-temperature +5C. Freezing levels 1500 m.

The next storm impacts the coast Sunday night. Rain will change to snow, 15-25 mm. Winds remain light. Freezing levels will fall to 1000 m.

Monday

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries tapering off in the afternoon, 2-10 mm. Light variable winds gusting 20 km/h. Ridgetop high-temperature +2C. Freezing levels 1000 m.

Tuesday

Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries, 15-30 mm. Southwesterly winds increase from moderate to strong through the day, gusting 60 km/h. Ridgetop high-temperature -1C. Freezing levels 800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
  • Loose avalanches may start small but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.

Problems

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.