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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 18th, 2025–Apr 19th, 2025

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

Sea To Sky, South Coast Inland, Brandywine, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

Verify that conditions are safe before entering committing slopes & remain cautious when travelling on or under corniced ridges and sunny slopes.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Friday, explosive control near Whistler triggered a size 2.5 cornice failure.

On Thursday, a naturally triggered cornice fall triggered a size 2 wet slab near Whistler.

Numerous recent natural loose wet avalanches up to size 2 were reported from all aspects at treeline and above. They all occurred later in the afternoon during peak daytime warming.

Looking forward: With cooling and more cloud in the forecast, we expect avalanche activity to decrease.

Snowpack Summary

The snowpack is generally well-settled and strong, although dormant weak layers may still exist in shallow inland areas like the Duffey and Chilcotin.

A typical spring diurnal cycle is underway. High freezing levels and sun melt the surface during the day, turning it moist or wet. Nightime cooling then refreezes the surface, forming a crust.

Dry snow may persist only in the highest shady north-facing terrain. Lower elevations are melting out rapidly.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy. 30 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature low +1 °C. Freezing level 2500 m, dropping to 1700 m.

Saturday

Partly cloudy. 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level around 1700 m.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries to 5 cm. 20 to 30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -1 °C. Freezing level rising to 1500 m.

Monday

Sunny. 10 to 25 km/h variable ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level rising to 1700 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Periods of low danger may be a good time to increase your exposure.
  • Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.
  • Travel early on sun-exposed slopes before cornices weaken with daytime warming.
  • Rocks will heat up with daytime warming and may become trigger points for loose wet avalanches.

Problems

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.

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.