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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 18th, 2019–Feb 19th, 2019

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

Regions

South Coast.

Triggering storm slabs remains a concern on steep and convex terrain features.

Confidence

Moderate - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

MONDAY NIGHT: Cloudy, moderate northwest wind, alpine temperatures drop to -6 C.TUESDAY: Cloudy with light flurries, accumulations of 3-8 cm, moderate northwest wind, alpine high temperatures around -3 C.WEDNESDAY: Mix of sun and cloud, light north wind, freezing level climbing to 900 m, alpine high temperatures around 0 C.THURSDAY: Mostly sunny, light northeast wind, alpine high temperatures around -2 C.

Avalanche Summary

Storm slab avalanches may still be possible to trigger as they slowly bond to underlying crusts.On Monday, search and rescue responded to an avalanche in the Mount Seymour backcountry. The avalanche occurred on a steep feature at treeline elevation (see photo here). At the time of publishing there limited details about this avalanche.Over the weekend, a few whumpfs and small (size 1) skier triggered avalanches were reported. On Friday, widespread avalanche activity was reported in the North Shore mountains. Ski cutting produced numerous small (size 1) slab avalanches in the top 30 cm of snow, as well a few notable larger avalanches (up to size 2.5). These avalanches showed impressive propagation, with some being triggered remotely (from a distance) and on a few occasions stepping down to a 50 cm deep crust layer.

Snowpack Summary

30-50 cm of recent storm snow is slowly bonding to underlying crust layers. Because of the recent cold temperatures and weak snow around the crusts, storm slabs are expected to take longer than usual to strengthen. New sun crusts may be found near the surface of south-facing aspects, while wind slabs may be found in exposed terrain. The lower snowpack is settled and strong.

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.