Dashboard Regions Weather Stations Radar Alerts Glossary
Contact About
Log In

Register for an account and never miss a forecast again!

Register

Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 18th, 2025–Feb 19th, 2025

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

Coquihalla, Harrison-Fraser, Manning, Skagit.

Assess for new wind slabs as you gain elevation, warming temperatures may increase their sensitivity to triggering.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

At the time of publishing, no new avalanches were reported in the past 7 days.

Snowpack Summary

An average of 5 cm of recent storm snow, with up to 25 cm in isolated hotspots near the border, has fallen with variable wind, potentially forming wind slab on all aspects. In sheltered terrain this new snow may overlie soft, faceted snow or surface hoar. In exposed terrain it will overlie a sun crust or wind-affected snow.

At lower elevations a new crust could be on or near the surface.

A weak layer from late January, buried 40 to 60 cm deep, is a hard crust in many areas but consists of facets or surface hoar on sheltered upper-elevation slopes.

A crust from December is buried 80 to 140 cm deep, with facets around it in shallow snowpack areas. Otherwise, the lower snowpack is strong and bonded.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with trace amounts of snow. 20 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 700 m.

Wednesday

Cloudy with up to 5 mm of mixed precipitation. 30 to 50 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1600 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with up to 20 mm of mixed precipitation. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1400 m.

Friday

Cloudy with up to 8 mm of mixed precipitation. 40 to 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1800 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Closely monitor how the new snow is bonding to the old surface.
  • The more the snowpack warms up and weakens, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind 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.

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.