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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 15th, 2023–Mar 16th, 2023

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

Regions

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

Warm air and sunny skies can rapidly destabilize the snowpack. Use extra caution on sun-exposed slopes during the heat of the day.

Confidence

High

Avalanche Summary

We haven't received any avalanche observations over the past few days.

Looking forward, warm air and sunny skies could initiate a loose wet avalanche cycle in the coming days, particularly on steep sun-exposed slopes.

Snowpack Summary

Around 20 to 40 cm of recent storm snow is consolidating and bonding to the snowpack. Thicker deposits may be found in lee terrain features near ridges due to strong southwest wind. With a rising freezing level and sunny skies, expect sun-exposed slopes and low elevations to have a moist snow surface during the day, which may freezing into a hard melt-freeze crust overnight. A dry snow surface will prevail on shaded aspects at higher elevations.

The middle and lower snowpack are consolidated and strong, containing numerous thick and hard melt-freeze crusts.

Weather Summary

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy with no precipitation, 10 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature -2 °C, freezing level 600 m.

Thursday

Partly cloudy with no precipitation, 10 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature 0 °C, freezing level 1200 m.

Friday

Clear skies with no precipitation, 10 to 20 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature 2 °C, freezing level 1500 m.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with no precipitation, 30 km/h southeast wind, treeline temperature 4 °C, freezing level 1600 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Minimize exposure to sun-exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong.
  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.

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.