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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 30th, 2024–Mar 31st, 2024

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 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.

Regions

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

While the best riding conditions may be found on north facing, alpine slopes - persistent weak layers may still be reactive here.

Watch for changing surface conditions on sunny slopes.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

The last reported avalanche was a close call size 1 rider triggered slab on Thursday (photo below). While the slab was only 10 cm deep, this shows the potential of small avalanches in steep or unsupported terrain features.

While there has been minimal avalanche activity over the past week, professionals in the region are still weary of the persistent slab problem. Warm temperatures may increase the reactivity of this problem, and will produce wet avalanche activity.

Snowpack Summary

Up to 10 cm of recent snow can be found over a widespread crust. Surface snow is expected to become moist or wet with rising temperatures and sun, on steep south facing slopes the crust below may also break down.

The facet/crust layer that produced large avalanches during early March is buried 80-150 cm deep. While no recent avalanche activity has been observed on this layer, it continues to produce concerning snowpack test results. It has become a low-probability, high-consequence problem on north-facing slopes above 2000 m. It is uncertain how this layer will react to rising temperatures.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy. 20-40 km/h northerly ridgetop wind. Freezing level drops to 700 m.

Sunday

Sunny. 20-40 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level rises to 2800 m in the afternoon, bringing treeline temperatures to +9 °C.

Monday

Freezing levels remain above 2500 m overnight and throughout Monday. Sunny. 20-30 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near +8 °C.

Tuesday

Freezing levels remain above 2000 m overnight and throughout Tuesday. Cloudy. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures near +2 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Use caution on large alpine slopes, especially around thin areas that may propagate to deeper instabilities.
  • Avoid sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if snow is moist or wet
  • A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.

Problems

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.

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.