Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 11th, 2026–Apr 12th, 2026

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Alpine

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Coastal, Northwest Inland, Boundary, Kitimat, Nass, Rupert, Seven Sisters, Shames, Stewart, Howson, Kispiox, Ningunsaw.

While spring-like weather has arrived, the snowpack continues to adjust and stabilize. Large persistent slab avalanches remain possible, particularly on steep northerly alpine slopes.

Confidence

Moderate

We are confident that there are persistent slabs in the snowpack, but uncertain about how likely they are to trigger.

Avalanche Summary

While details are lacking, a large (~size 3) persistent slab avalanche was remotely triggered on a north-facing alpine slope on Friday. I appeared to occur on a steep, rocky slope with a thin-to-thick snowpack.

Wet loose avalanches continue to be reported daily with the recent warm temperatures and strong sun.

Snowpack Summary

Crusty surfaces are present across most terrain, except in high alpine north-facing areas, where dry, wintry snow can still be found, and isolated wind slabs may linger. On solar aspects and lower elevations, surface crusts are expected to soften and weaken with daytime warming and solar input.

Several persistent weak layers are buried up to 250 cm deep. While triggering these layers is becoming unlikely, they present a low-probability, high-consequence problem. A cornice fall (large load) may be enough to trigger this slab.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night
Clear skies. 10 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Sunday
Mostly sunny. 1 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 1400 m.

Monday
Mix of sun and clouds. 4 to 10 cm of snow. 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -2 °C. Freezing level 900 m.

Tuesday
Mostly cloudy. 5 to 15 cm of snow. 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

Avoid steep, rocky, and wind-affected areas where triggering slabs is more likely.
A moist or wet snow surface, pinwheeling, and natural avalanches are all indicators of a weakening snowpack.
Be aware of the potential for large, destructive avalanches due to deeply buried weak layers.
Use extra caution around cornices: they are large, fragile, and can trigger slabs on slopes below.

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.

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.