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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Mar 12th, 2023–Mar 13th, 2023

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

Regions

Sea To Sky, Brandywine, Homathko, Spearhead.

UPDATE ON MONDAY AT 6:20 AM: Less snow fell overnight than expected, but reactive storm slabs should still be expected. Seek out sheltered low-angle terrain for the best and safest riding.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

On Saturday a local operator triggered a cornice to fail with the use of explosives. Although it did not trigger the slope below it, it did create a size 2.5 avalanche.

Since Wednesday there have been several skier-triggered size 1 wind slab avalanches reported. These have been on the west and southwest aspects and in the alpine and at treeline.

Snowpack Summary

By Monday morning up to 25 cm of storm snow will have fallen throughout our region. This will add to the smaller amounts that have been slowly accumulating since Friday night. This new snow is covering up a new crust that exists on solar aspects as well as on all aspects below treeline. Strong to moderate southwest winds may have formed fresh wind slabs at higher elevations. Large cornices have formed from these winds. Before Sunday night's storm, up to 20 cm of soft snow can still be found on sheltered northerly aspects.

A couple of crusts with facets sitting above them can be found at treeline and above down 80 to 180 cm.

The remainder of the mid and lower snowpack is well-settled and strong.

Weather Summary

Sunday Night

Cloudy, 20 to 25 cm accumulation with up to 35 closer to the coast, winds southwest 25 to 30 km/h gusting to 65, treeline temperatures between -6 to -2 °C with freezing levels to 1200 m.

Monday

Cloudy, 2 to 8 cm accumulation with up to 15 cm closer to the coastal areas, winds southwest 25 to 30 km/h gusting to 65, treeline temperatures around -5 °C with freezing level reaching 1200 m.

Tuesday

Cloudy with sunny periods, up to 10 cm accumulation, winds south southwest 25 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures -7 °C with freezing levels to 1000 m.

Wednesday

Cloudy with sunny periods, trace accumulation, winds southwest 15 to 30 km/h, treeline temperatures around -5 °C with freezing levels getting back up to 1400 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • As the storm slab problem gets trickier, the easy solution is to choose more conservative terrain.
  • Avoid freshly wind loaded terrain features.
  • Minimize your exposure time below cornices.
  • The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.

Problems

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.