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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 4th, 2023–Mar 5th, 2023

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

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Powell River, Spearhead, Tantalus, Sasquatch.

As the storm snow settles, winds have begun to create reactive wind slabs.

Seek out the best snow in areas sheltered by the wind.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Several storm slab and wind slab avalanches, up to size two, have been reported over the last few days. These were triggered naturally, accidentally, and with explosives. One was even triggered remotely.

For a deeper dive into conditions, check out this awesome South Coast Conditions report posted by Zenith Guides.

Snowpack Summary

Southerly winds have begun to redistribute this past week's storm snow. Wind slabs are expected in exposed terrain. In some areas, this new snow has bonded poorly to the underlying surface consisting of stiff wind slabs and facets formed by last week's wind and cold temperatures.

Deeper in the snowpack 60 to 180 cm down exists two crusts with facets sitting above them. They can be found in alpine and treeline elevation bands. If triggered these layers could produce massive avalanches.

The remainder of the mid and lower snowpack is well-settled, strong, and consolidated.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Cloudy with clear periods, 2 to 5 cm accumulation, winds northeast 15 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 °C.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with some sunny breaks, up to 5 cm accumulation, winds east 15 to 25 km/h, treeline temperatures -6 °C.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud, trace accumulation, winds southeast 15 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 °C.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and cloud, around 2 cm accumulation, winds southerly 15 to 20 km/h, treeline temperatures -10 to -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be carefull around freshly wind loaded features.
  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Don't be too cavalier with decision making, storm slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.
  • Carefully monitor the bond between the new snow and old surface.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.

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.