Avalanche forecast

Northwest Coastal

Mar 10 – 11, 2024Avalanche Canada
View on map
Archived · expired 3 years ago

Avalanche danger

Tue
Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
3 · Considerable
Open full map

Highlights

Choose conservative, low consequence terrain.

Storm slabs will remain rider triggerable and have the potential to step down to deeper layers.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    2–3

    Persistent weak layers including crust/facet combos and buried surface hoar continue producing surprising avalanches.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

    Ongoing snowfall and southerly wind have formed reactive storm slabs. The largest and most reactive will be on northerly aspects.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Rider and remotely triggered persistent slab avalanches continue to occur in the region. Some have been triggered in low angle terrain.

Snowpack Summary

Ongoing snowfall and southerly winds have formed reactive storm and wind slabs.

Several persistent weak layers are likely buried between 70 and 150 cm deep. These weak layers include hard crusts with overlying weak facets and surface hoar. Avalanches continue to fail on these layers.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night

A mix of cloud and clear skies with 1 to 3 cm of new snow. 10 to 20 km/h south alpine wind.  Treeline temperature -4°C.

Sunday

Cloudy with 5 to 15 cm of new snow. 40 to 70 km/h southeast alpine wind. Treeline temperature -1°C.

Monday

Cloudy with up to 5 cm of new snow. 40 to 70 km/h southeast alpine wind. Treeline temperature -3°C.

Tuesday

Cloudy with 20 to 30 cm of  new snow. 30 to 60 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature -4°C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Remote triggering is a big concern, be aware of the potential for wide propagations and large, destructive avalanches at all elevations.
  • Caution required around non obvious avalanche terrain like road cutbanks, cutblocks and other non obvious avalanche terrain
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.

Regions covered