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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 24th, 2026–Mar 25th, 2026

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

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Start on small, mellow slopes and watch for signs of instability before approaching steeper or larger slopes.

New snow and wind are building reactive slabs, plus a buried weak layer lurks.

Confidence

Moderate

  • We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.

Avalanche Summary

On Monday, northeast of Pemberton, a large (size 2) rider triggered wind slab avalanche was reported on a north facing slope in the alpine. Also, explosives avalanche control produced several small to large (size 1-1.5) avalanches, mostly cornices with some wind slabs. One of the cornice falls also stepped down to a deeper weak layer on the slope below.

Looking forward, we expect that new snow and wind will make human triggered avalanches likely on Wednesday.

Snowpack Summary

15 to 25 cm of new snow is expected by the end of the day on Wednesday. Extreme southwest wind through the night, and moderate to strong wind through the day is expected to form deeper, more reactive deposits in leeward terrain.

This should all add up to 30 to 50 cm of recent storm snow over a widespread, thick and hard crust below about 1800 m, and old wind-affected snow at upper elevations.

A persistent weak layer from early March, consisting of a hard, frozen crust, is currently buried 75–150 cm. This layer has shown isolated reactivity, particularly in the Hurley area and zones north of there.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night
Cloudy. 10 to 15 cm of snow. 70-90 km/h southwest ridgetop wind, decreasing by early morning. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy. 3 to 10 cm of snow. 30-50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -8 °C.

Thursday
Mix of sun and clouds. 1 to 2 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -10 °C.

Friday
Mostly sunny. 1 to 3 cm of snow. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

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.

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.