Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 17th, 2026–Mar 18th, 2026

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Alpine

Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.

Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Below Treeline

Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.

Regions

South Coast Inland, Birkenhead, Duffey, South Chilcotin, Stein, Taseko.

High avalanche danger. Avoid avalanche terrain and exposure to overhead hazards like cornices and avalanche runout zones.

Confidence

Moderate

We are uncertain about how the snowpack will react to the forecast weather.

Avalanche Summary

Several natural and human-controlled slab avalanches were reported on Monday, up to size 1.5.

Snowpack Summary

High elevation snow falls with strong south to southwest wind, loading lee features. A rising rain line between 1900 and 2000 m has likely saturated the recent storm snow at mid and lower elevations.

The early March crust is now 80–120 cm deep (locally as shallow as ~20 cm), with variable strength across aspects and elevations.

Below this, the lower snowpack is generally well settled and strong.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Cloudy. 5 to 20 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy. 1 to 5 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy. 3 to 20 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 2000 m.

Friday

Mostly cloudy. 5 to 45 mm of precipitation as snow or rain at treeline. 60 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 1 °C. Freezing level 2000 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.
As the storm slab problem worsens, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
Use extra caution around cornices: they are large, fragile, and can trigger slabs on slopes below.

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.