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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 9th, 2024–Mar 10th, 2024

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

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Homathko, Spearhead.

Very dangerous avalanche conditions exist. Manage the uncertainty around buried weak layers by sticking to low-angle non avalanche terrain and avoiding overhead hazard.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

No new avalanche observations or reports on Friday or Saturday at the time of publishing. Thursday was very active for avalanche observations and occurrences. Many persistence slab avalanche where triggered during explosive work and where large (size 3) . These avalanches had crowns greater than 100 cm in depth and 100 to 200 meters wide. A few avalanche where remote triggered by skiers.

Snowpack Summary

Storm snow amounts near days end exceeded 40 cm with another 20 cm forecast. This new snow overlies a variety of surfaces including surface hoar. Expect strong south winds to strip snow from ridgelines and exposed features and deposit new snow into deep pockets in lee aspect terrain.

Under the new snow an estimated 120-160 cm of progressively resistant or 'right side up' snow is continuing to settle above the problematic crust/facet/surface hoar layer beneath it. This layer continues to show sensitivity to human triggers, and is most concerning at treeline elevations where weak grains like facets and surface hoar are more easily preserved.

Weather Summary

Saturday night

Cloudy with snowfall bringing 10-20 cm of new snow. 40-60 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature around -4 °C with freezing level about 1100 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with continuing snowfall bringing 10-20 cm of new snow and 2-day totals to 40-60 cm. 40-60 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature -2°C with freezing level around 1300 m.

Monday

Cloudy with snowfall bringing 5-15 cm of new snow. 40-50 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature -3°C with freezing level around 1200 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with snowfall bringing 5-15 cm of new snow. 20-30 km/h southwest alpine wind. Treeline temperature -3°C with freezing level around 1200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Travel in alpine terrain is not recommended.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeper layers resulting in large avalanches.
  • Avoid traveling in runout zones. Avalanches have the potential to run to the valley floor.
  • Remote triggering is a concern, watch out for adjacent and overhead slopes.

Problems

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.

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.