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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 8th, 2023–Apr 9th, 2023

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

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus.

Avoid avalanche terrain. New snow and wind will likely result in a natural avalanche cycle.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

On Friday natural wet loose and storm slab activity was observed up to size two. Check out this MIN for some good details.

We suspect that larger and more reactive storm slabs will be found on Sunday.

Snowpack Summary

On Sunday another 20 to 40 cm of storm snow will bring recent totals to around 60 cm. This storm snow will be accompanied by strong to extreme southerly winds stripping windward slopes and forming wind slabs on lee and cross loaded features. At lower elevations precipitation will fall on an already moist snowpack.

A crust can be found below recent storm snow on solar aspects and all aspects treeline and below.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Stormy with 5 to 15 cm of new snow expected. Strong to extreme southerly winds and freezing levels falling to 1500 m.

Sunday

Stormy with up to 40 cm of new snow expected. Strong to extreme southerly winds and freezing levels rising to 1700 m with the snowline around 1000 m.

Monday

Mostly cloudy with flurries bringing up to 10 cm of new snow. Moderate southerly winds and freezing levels rising to 1500 m.

Tuesday

Mostly cloudy with up to 15 cm of new snow possible. Moderate southwest winds and freezing levels rising to 1400 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid all avalanche terrain during periods of heavy snowfall.
  • Be careful to keep storm day fever from luring you out into bigger terrain features.
  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.

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.