Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
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 unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Regions
South Coast.
Fresh storm and wind slabs will likely take a few days to gain strength.
Confidence
Fair - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Expect another 10-20 cm of snow on Thursday falling mainly in the morning and afternoon with freezing levels around 1400 m, except in the Coquihalla area where it is likely to remain warm and wet. Expect moderate to strong southerly ridge top winds associated with the precipitation. A drying, clearing, and cooling trend is expected to start on Friday with isolated flurries, freezing levels dropping as low as 1000 m and winds easing to light westerlies by the evening. At this point Saturday is looking mostly dry with a mix of sun and cloud, freezing levels below 1000 m and light ride top wind.
Avalanche Summary
No new reports of avalanches. Please let us know what you're seeing out there. Submit your observations to the Mountain Information Network.
Snowpack Summary
Rain-soaked snow should soon be frozen into a solid surface crust that extends as high as treeline elevations with 15-20 cm of fresh snow on top, depending on elevation, in the northern part of the region. Meanwhile at alpine elevations fresh storm and wind slabs have likely developed and weakness deeper in the snowpack, such as crusts with associated facets, likely remain under critical loads. Snow pack depth and snow quality drastically diminishes as you drop below treeline.
Problems
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.
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.