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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 7th, 2025–Mar 8th, 2025

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

Regions

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

Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended on Saturday.

Dial back your terrain choices if you are seeing more than 30 cm of new snow.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday, numerous natural size 1 loose wet avalanches were reported on steep solar terrain.

With significant new snow and strong wind in the forecast for the weekend, we anticipate widespread avalanche activity will be very likely on Saturday.

If you are headed to the backcountry, please consider sharing your photos and observations from your day on the Mountain Information Network.

Snowpack Summary

By Saturday morning, 10 to 20 cm of storm snow has accumulated, and an additional 20 to 45 cm of snow is expected through the day. Storm snow covers a crust on all aspects except on high north facing terrain, where new snow buries 10 to 15 cm of snow overlying a crust from earlier in March.

A layer of facets and surface hoar from mid February can be found down 30 to 60 cm.

Another layer of facets and surface hoar from late January can be found down 80 to 120 cm.

The lower snowpack contains several crusts that are not concerning.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Cloudy with flurries, 10 to 20 cm of snow. 40 to 60 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 900 m.

Saturday

Cloudy with heavy flurries, 25 to 45 cm of snow. 50 to 70 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level rises to 1200 m.

Flurries will continue overnight, 25 to 50 cm of snow.

Sunday

Cloudy with flurries, 15 to 30 cm of snow. 30 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level around 1000 m.

Monday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 25 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C. Freezing level around 1000 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • It's a good day to make conservative terrain choices.
  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • Avoid freshly wind-loaded terrain features.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeply buried weak layers and result in very large avalanches.

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.

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.