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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 6th, 2023–Apr 7th, 2023

Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

South Coast, Powell River, North Shore, Sasquatch, Sasquatch, Sky Pilot, Tetrahedron.

Heavy rain and wet snow have impacted the snowpack.

Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

An avalanche cycle is expected to occur on Thursday night / early morning Friday with high freezing levels and heavy precipitations.

Over the past weekend, lots of loose dry sluffing was reported in MINs. Small skier-triggered storm slabs (size 1) were also reported in immediate lees of ridge tops and convexities in the recent 30-50 storm snow.

If you head out in the backcountry, consider sharing your observations with us on the Mountain Information Network!

Snowpack Summary

Up to 40 mm of precipitation has already fallen throughout the day Thursday. This has likely soaked the snowpack at lower elevations and brought wet and heavy snow at upper elevations only. This wet snow is resting on a crusty surface formed last week below 1200 m. Above 1200 m, it is falling on previously dry storm snow from last weekend (30-50 cm), which was bonding well to an underlying melt-freeze crust. The middle and lower snowpacks are strong and well-bonded.

Weather Summary

A warm system is crashing into the South coast Thursday night. Wet, warm & windy conditions are expected to ease on Friday. Another system will bring ongoing heavy precipitations for the weekend.

Thursday night

Heavy rain. Snow at higher elevations only. Local amount 30-50 mm. Strong southerly wind gusting 60 km/h. Alpine low -1 °C. Freezing level steady at 1800 m.

Friday

Isolated flurries ending in the morning. Local amount 5-10 cm. Moderate southwest wind. Alpine high -1 °C. Freezing level lowers to 1200 m.

Saturday

Snow. Local amount up to 20 cm. Strong southerly wind gusting 60 km/h. Alpine low -2 °C. Freezing level around 1000 m.

Sunday

Snow. Local amount up to 20-30 cm. Strong southerly wind gusting 60 km/h. Alpine low -2 °C. Freezing level around 1200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be alert to conditions that change with aspect and elevation.
  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Avoid areas with overhead hazard.
  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
  • Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazard.

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.

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.