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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 7th, 2023–Apr 8th, 2023

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

Regions

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

Avalanche danger will increase throughout the day as another storm will affect the region.

Make conservative terrain choices and avoid overhead hazards.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Although there were no reports of avalanche activity, we suspect an avalanche cycle occurred on Thursday night / early morning Friday with high freezing levels and heavy precipitations.

If you head out in the backcountry, consider sharing your observations with us on the Mountain Information Network!

Snowpack Summary

Up to 75 mm of precipitation has already fallen since Thursday. This has soaked the snowpack at lower elevations and brought wet and heavy snow at upper elevations only. This wet snow is resting on a crusty surface formed last week below 1400 m. Above 1400 m, it is falling on storm snow from last weekend (30-50 cm), which was bonding well to an underlying melt-freeze crust. The middle and lower snowpacks are strong and well-bonded.

Weather Summary

Wet, warm & windy conditions will continue to impact the region as two more storms will roll into the South Coast ranges over the weekend.

Friday night

Isolated flurries. Local amount 5-10 cm. Strong southwesterly wind gusting 50 km/h. Alpine low -5 °C. Freezing level lowers to 1000 m.

Saturday

Snow at higher elevations. Local amount 30 cm. Strong southwesterly wind gusting 60 km/h. Alpine low -4 °C. Freezing level around 1200 m.

Sunday

Rain. Local amount up to 40-50 mm. Strong southwesterly wind gusting 60 km/h. Alpine high -1 °C. Freezing level rises 1800 m.

Monday

Cloudy. Isolated flurries. Moderate southwesterly winds gusting 45 km/h. Alpine high -2 °C. Freezing level lowers to 1000 m

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be alert to conditions that change with aspect and elevation.
  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
  • Continue to make conservative terrain choices while the storm snow settles and stabilizes.
  • Avoid areas with overhead hazard.

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.