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

Regions

Vancouver Island, East Island, North Island, South Island, West Island.

New snow may hide buried problems. In areas with greater than 30 cm accumulation, treat the danger as HIGH.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

There were a few size 1 to 1.5 slab avalanches reported over the weekend. These were running southwest through north aspects at treeline and in the alpine. There were also some reports of whumpfing and cracking in the Mt Cokely area.

If you are heading into the backcountry, consider posting a MIN.

Snowpack Summary

New snow falls on about 15 to 30 cm of snow from the weekend. This sits on old wind-affected snow, facets or surface hoar in sheltered areas, or a melt freeze crust.

At upper elevations, wind blowing from a variety of directions has redistributed storm snow into fresh wind slabs in lee terrain.

A widespread crust, sometimes accompanied by a thin layer of weak facets, is buried 30 to 70 cm beneath predominantly low-density snow.

The mid and lower snowpack contains no other layers of concern.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy with 10 to 30 mm of mixed precipitation. 50 to 90 km/h southeast ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1300 m.

Wednesday

Cloudy with 15 to 30 mm of mixed precipitation. 50 to 90 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1300 m

Thursday

Cloudy with up to 15 mm of mixed precipitation. 30 to 50 km/h west ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1200 m.

Friday

Cloudy with 15 to 35 cm of mixed precipitation. 50 to 90 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1500 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Minimize exposure during periods of heavy loading from new snow and wind.
  • Use small, low consequence slopes to test the bond of the new snow.
  • Fresh snow rests on a problematic persistent slab, don't let good riding lure you into complacency.

Problems

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.

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.