Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 8th, 2024–Mar 9th, 2024

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson.

Travelling in avalanche terrain in the alpine is not recommended. At treeline and below, make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday a couple of small (size 1) skier triggered avalanches occurred.On Tuesday and Wednesday, a few large (up to size 2) natural and human-triggered avalanches continued to occur.

Some reports are of remotely triggered avalanches, which indicate a sensitive snowpack and the need for conservative terrain choices, especially with increased load from new snow and wind.

Click on the photos below for more details.

Snowpack Summary

Storm totals should reach 40 to 60 cm by Saturday morning. Strong southerly winds are expected to create deeper, more reactive deposits in leeward terrain, possibly further downslope than expected.

Several persistent weak layers are likely buried between 70 and 150 cm deep. These weak layers include hard crusts with overlying weak facets and surface hoar. Avalanches continue to fail on these layers, including remote triggering and very large step-down avalanches.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Cloudy. 3 to 12 cm of snow expected. 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline low around -3 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy. 0 to 1 cm of snow expected. 15 to 30 km/h westerly ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -2 °C.

Sunday

Cloudy. 1 to 4 cm of snow expected. 60 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature around -1 °C.

Monday

Mostly cloudy. 0 to 2 cm of snow expected. 40 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline high around -2 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Remote triggering is a big concern, be aware of the potential for wide propagations and large, destructive avalanches at all elevations.
Caution required around non obvious avalanche terrain like road cutbanks, cutblocks and other non obvious avalanche terrain
Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.

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.

Storm Slabs

Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-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.