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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 13th, 2026–Jan 14th, 2026

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

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

Sustained high freezing levels make loose wet avalanches possible at all aspects and elevations. The steeper the terrain, the more likely you are to trigger a loose wet avalanche.

Confidence

Moderate

  • Uncertainty is due to the limited number of field observations.

Avalanche Summary

Multiple loose wet avalanches up size 2 were reported in the Mt Washington backcountry on Monday. We suspect a widespread natural avalanche cycle occurred during the heavy rain.

Snowpack Summary

A thin crust overlies the recent 30 to 50 cm of wet snow, which has been decimated by heavy rain over the last few days.

The mid and lower snowpack is generally moist and well-bonded, with average depths of 120–170 cm at treeline.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 4 °C. Freezing level 3200 m.

Wednesday
Cloudy. 1 mm of rain at treeline. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 3 °C. Freezing level 2100 m.

Thursday
Mostly sunny. 20 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 6 °C. Freezing level 3100 m.

Friday
Sunny. 10 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 12 °C. Freezing level 3700 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling, and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
  • Keep in mind that the high density of wet avalanches can make them destructive.

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.