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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 9th, 2025–Apr 10th, 2025

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

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Boundary, Stewart, Kispiox, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw, Ningunsaw.

Daytime warming may destabilize the snow at lower elevation, on steep slopes that face the sun.

Reduce your exposure to large slopes above you, and cornices.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

In the past 3 days, a few large natural and explosive controlled avalanches up to size 3 have happened during the heat of the day.

On Friday, a failing cornice triggered a size 3 avalanche on an eastern slope in the alpine. This avalanche is believed to have occurred on the March 5th surface hoar layer.

Where a thick, supportive surface crust is found, we expect that triggering avalanches on buried weak layers is unlikely.

Snowpack Summary

5 to 25 cm of new snow sits on variably wind affected snow in open terrain at upper elevations. A crust is found up to 1800 m and higher on solar slopes.

Three layers of note currently exist in the upper-mid snowpack.

  • A layer of surface hoar and a crust that formed in mid-March can be found 50 to 80 cm below the snow surface.

  • Another layer of surface hoar that formed in early March can be found at a depth of 70 to 120 cm.

  • A layer of facets, surface hoar, and/or a crust from mid-February is buried 120 to 200 cm deep.

The remainder of the snowpack is well consolidated, and there are no current concerns.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy with flurries. 20 to 30 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6°C.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with 5 to 10 cm of snow. 20 to 50 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with up to 5 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3 °C. Freezing level 900 m.

Saturday

Mix of sun and cloud with flurries. 10 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -3°C. Freezing level 1000 m

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avalanche activity is unlikely when a thick melt-freeze crust is present on the snow surface.
  • Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
  • Cornice failures could trigger large and destructive avalanches.
  • Avoid steep, sun-exposed slopes when the air temperature is warm or when solar radiation is strong.

Problems

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.

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.