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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 29th, 2023–Mar 30th, 2023

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

Regions

Vancouver Island, East Island, North Island, South Island, West Island.

Watch for unstable snow on isolated terrain features - lingering pockets of wind slab in extreme terrain and steep sunny slopes becoming moist in the afternoon.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Our field team observed small loose wet avalanches out of steep south aspects near Mt Cain on Wednesday.

If you head into the backcountry, consider sharing your observations on the Mountain Information Network!

Snowpack Summary

Moist snow or a crust exists on the surface on steep southerly aspects and below 1600 m. On other aspects above 1600 m, 10-30 cm of snow from last week has been redistributed by easterly wind.

The mid and lower snowpack are well consolidated and strong.

Weather Summary

Wednesday night

Clear. Light westerly wind. Alpine low -1 °C. Freezing level 1500 m.

Thursday

Increasing cloud. Light southerly wind. Alpine high 0 °C. Freezing level 1300 m.

Friday

5-10 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong southwest wind. Alpine high -1 °C. Freezing level 1000 m.

Saturday

Around 5 cm of new snow. Moderate southwest wind. Alpine high -2 °C. Freezing level 800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.
  • Rocks will heat up with daytime warming and may become trigger points for loose wet avalanches
  • Watch for unstable snow on specific terrain features, especially when the snow is moist or wet.

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.