Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Regions
South Coast.
Rugged travel conditions dominate lower elevations while lingering wind slab and cornice problems show that winter is on in the alpine.
Confidence
Moderate - Due to the number of field observations
Weather Forecast
Saturday night: Clear with cloudy periods. Light northeast winds. Sunday: Sunny with cloudy periods. Light northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures of -2 with freezing levels around 800 metres.Monday: Sunny. Light northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures of -4 with freezing levels around 700 metres.Tuesday: Sunny. Light northeast winds. Alpine high temperatures of -3 with freezing levels around 500 metres.
Avalanche Summary
No avalanches have been reported. Please submit any observations you have to the Mountain Information Network here.
Snowpack Summary
The warm storm from early last week produced over 200 mm of precipitation that mostly fell as rain. Extreme winds out of the south/southwest likely produced weak cornices along many ridgelines during the storm.Alpine areas near Squamish have the most snow, with around 70 cm of settled snow on the ground. In the alpine, there may be a crust lower in the snowpack. It is thought that there is insufficient snow for avalanches below 1500 m.
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.
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.