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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 4th, 2025–Apr 5th, 2025

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Be cautious around cornices and sun-exposed slopes, and carefully assess the snowpack and terrain due to uncertainty about buried weak layers.

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

Recent reports have been limited to small wet loose avalanches.

During last week's warm-up, a widespread cycle of large persistent slab avalanches occurred. The current status of this problem is uncertain, but it likely persists in areas where the upper snowpack has not undergone significant melt-freeze cycles.

Snowpack Summary

Dry, settled powder may still exist on high north-facing slopes, while elsewhere, a daily melt-freeze cycle is forming a hard crust overnight that softens during the day.

Persistent weak layers from January, February, and March are buried 50 to 150 cm deep across the region, though their current reactivity remains uncertain.

At lower elevations, the rain-saturated snowpack thins quickly with elevation.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Clear. 10-20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C. Freezing level 1200-1500 m.

Saturday

Mostly sunny. 15-25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +4 °C. Freezing level 2400 m.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with 1 to 2 mm of rain. 20-30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level 2100 m.

Monday

Cloudy with 2 to 4 mm of rain or snow. 20-30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be aware of the potential for large avalanches due to buried weak layers.
  • Limit exposure to steep, sun exposed slopes, especially when the solar radiation is strong.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

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.

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.