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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Feb 21st, 2025–Feb 22nd, 2025

Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Alpine
Natural and human triggered avalanches likely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches possible, human triggered probable.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
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, Garibaldi, Homathko, Spearhead, Tantalus, Sasquatch, Sasquatch.

Heavy precipitation and warm temperatures bring dangerous avalanche conditions. Small avalanches may step down to underlying weak layers.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Several small natural and human caused avalanches have been reported since the line of storms has begun. These include wind slabs and storm slabs. Some have stepped down to layers 40 to 60 cm deep in the snowpack.

At lower elevations, small wet snow avalanches have been reported as the warming begins. These are expected to continue and be more prevalent at higher elevations as the warming trend continues.

Snowpack Summary

Wind affected storm snow overlies soft, faceted snow, or surface hoar in sheltered terrain. In exposed terrain, it will overlie a sun crust or wind-affected snow.

A weak layer that was buried at the end of January is down 30 to 80 cm in the snowpack. Depending on where you are, it'll be a combination of different crystals. With crusts on sunny slopes, sugary facets in most places, and surface hoar in sheltered spots.

The mid and lower snowpack is strong and bonded.

Weather Summary

Friday Night

Cloudy with up to 10 to 20 mm of mixed precipitation. 40 to 60 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1500 m.

Saturday

Cloudy with 10 to 25 mm of mixed precipitation. 40 to 70 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level rising to 1800 m.

Sunday

Cloudy with 10 to 20 mm of mixed precipitation. 10 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1500 m.

Monday

Cloudy with 20 to 40 mm of mixed precipitation. 30 to 60 km/h south ridgetop wind. Freezing level 1300 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Approach lee and cross-loaded slopes with caution.
  • Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day.
  • Storm slabs in motion may step down to deeply buried weak layers and result in very large avalanches.
  • Back off slopes as the surface becomes moist or wet with rising temperatures.

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.

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.

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.