Avalanche forecast

South Coast

Mar 30 – 31, 2015Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Thu
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Highlights

Large and destructive avalanches will remain a concern long after the stormy weather has ended. See this blog post for additional info: http://bit.ly/1HHQrK2

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–3
    New snow and wind on Monday night will add to an ongoing wind slab problem. Watch for triggering in high elevation lee terrain.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible - Likely
    Size
    3–6
    A deeply buried weak layer continues to haunt the region, especially in the north where large and destructive avalanches will remain a concern for some time. Conservative terrain selection remains critical.

Confidence

Fair - Due to the number of field observations

Weather Forecast

A general cooling pattern is expected for the forecast period. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday only trace amounts of new snow are expected each day with the possibility of occasional sunny breaks. Ridgetop winds should remain light to moderate from the northwest with daytime freezing levels hovering at about 1300m

Avalanche Summary

Largely due to inclement weather, recent reports have been fairly scarce. For a little over a week, there have been consistent reports of avalanches to size 2.5 occurring on the mid-March persistent weak layer. Some avalanches have occurred naturally and many have been remote triggered from up to 100m away.

Snowpack Summary

This region has a very serious persistent slab problem that exists under the upper layers of dense storm snow. Depending on how much recent snow has fallen, a facet/crust persistent weak layer buried mid-March lies anywhere from 40-120 cm below the surface. Avalanches have continued to run on this layer at upper treeline and alpine elevations, especially in the north of the region. Snowpack layers deeper than this critical interface are reported to be generally well-settled and strong.

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