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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 5th, 2025–Jan 6th, 2025

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

Regions

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

Dry snow at upper elevations will be sensitive to rapidly warming temperatures and sun on Monday.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

Moist snow, pinwheeling and small loose wet sluffing was reported at 1200 m near Cypress on Saturday.

If you go out in the mountains, please consider sharing your observations and photos on the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Snowpack Summary

15 to 30 cm of recent snow becomes wet and heavy as temperatures rise above zero at most elevations on Monday.

The mid and lower snowpack is well consolidated, with several well-bonded crusts scattered throughout.

Snow depth has been reported as 330 cm at 1700 m, tapering quickly with elevation below treeline.

Weather Summary

Sunday night

Clear. 10 to 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C.

Monday

Sunny. 10 to 30 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level rising to 2700 m.

Tuesday

Increasing cloud. 30 to 50 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +2 °C. Freezing level 2700 to 2000 m.

Wednesday

5 to 10 cm of snow overnight then clearing. 20 to 40 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +1 °C. Freezing level 1500 to 2500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
  • Rocks will heat up with daytime warming and may become trigger points for loose wet avalanches.
  • Keep your guard up as storm slabs may remain sensitive to human triggering.

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.