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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 9th, 2024–Dec 10th, 2024

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

Regions

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

Rising temperatures are increasing the chance of avalanches. Monitor the conditions and back off steep slopes as the surface becomes wet or slushy.

Confidence

Low

Avalanche Summary

There have been no recent reports of avalanches in the region. Avalanche activity is expected to increase with warming to mountain top on Tuesday.

If you are going out in the backcountry, please consider sharing your observations to the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

Snowpack Summary

The surface snow will likely become wet due to warm temperatures and rising freezing levels to mountain top.

In the alpine, new snow from the weekend (we suspect up to 30 cm) sits over moist snow. Elsewhere, 10-15 cm sits above a firm rain crust. Below the crust is a rain-soaked snowpack.

Snow depths at treeline vary across the region from 65 cm to 150 cm.

Weather Summary

Monday Night

Clear with cloudy periods. 15 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperatures -1 °C. Freezing level 500 m.

Tuesday

A mix of sun and cloud. 10 to 30 km/h easterly ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +5 °C. Freezing level 3000 m.

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy with sunny breaks. 20 to 35 km/h southeast ridgetop wind switching south. Treeline temperature +4 °C. Freezing level 2700 m.

Thursday

Cloudy with wet snow and rain 20-30 mm. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature +1 °C. Freezing level 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be careful with wind-loaded pockets, especially near ridge crests and rollovers.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.
  • Loose avalanches may start small, but they can grow and push you into dangerous terrain.

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.

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.