Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 25th, 2023–Apr 26th, 2023

Alpine

Below Threshold.

Treeline

Below Threshold.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Alpine

Below Threshold.

Treeline

Below Threshold.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Alpine

Below Threshold.

Treeline

Below Threshold.

Below Treeline

Below Threshold.

Regions

Chic-Choc Mountains, Littoral, Murdochville.

It's spring, plan your outings to get the best quality snow possible. The alpine slopes will be very firm in the morning and the south-facing slopes will be the first to produce pleasant downhill conditions. The northern slopes will require more time to soften. If you are tackling challenging objectives, be sure to pack crampons and ice axes.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche has been observed or reported.

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Snowpack Summary

The cycle of overnight freezing and daytime thawing continues into Tuesday night and Wednesday, bringing the much-loved spring and "corn snow" conditions under the afternoon sun. At the base of the mountains, warmth and solar radiation will continue to rapidly transform the snow and continue the accelerated melting of the snowpack. More and more areas are now without snow cover, mainly at and below treeline, where conditions are quite minimal.Snowpack heights range from 0 cm (valley) to 92 cm (mid-mountain).

Weather Summary

Forecast for the Chic-Chocs ridges and summits.

Synopsis: A ridge of high pressure over the area will keep the weather mostly clear until Wednesday night. Tuesday evening and night: A few clouds, light winds from the southeast, minimum -3 C, freezing level at 400 m.Wednesday: Alternating sun and clouds, light winds from the south, then from the northwest, maximum +7 C, freezing level at 1600 m.Thursday: Cloudy, light rain, light northwest winds, gusts to 30 km/h, maximum +3 C, freezing level at 1600 m.Friday: Sunny, light northwest winds, maximum +5 C, freezing level at 1700 m. For more details, see the Chic-Chocs alpine forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Caution around slopes that are exposed to cornices overhead.
As surface loses cohesion due to melting, loose wet avalanches become common in steeper terrain.
The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
Rocks will heat up with daytime warming and may become trigger points for loose wet avalanches

Problems

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.

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.