Avalanche forecast

Northwest Coastal

Mar 11 – 12, 2025Avalanche Canada
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Fri
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

Persistent slab avalanche activity is beginning to taper, however remain cautious as there is still potential to trigger buried weak layers.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

    Recent new snow has been redistributed by wind blowing from a variety of directions.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2–3.5

    A buried persistent weak layer from February has produced large natural and human-triggered avalanches recently.

Confidence

Moderate

Avalanche Summary

Recent reports from the past few days indicate wind slab avalanche activity to size 1.5 in the alpine. These were reported as natural and skier triggered, were 20-40 cm deep and were suspected of running on surface hoar crystals buried early March.

Snowpack Summary

20-30 cm of new snow is being redistributed by primarily southerly winds. This new snow fell on a widespread layer of large surface hoar crystals, which sits on a crust on solar aspects and at low elevations.

A layer of facets, surface hoar and/or a crust from mid-February is buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer produced large natural and human-triggered avalanches last week.

The remainder of the snowpack is well consolidated with no concerns at this time.

Weather Summary

Tuesday Night

Partly cloudy with 1 to 2 cm of new snow. 10 to 20 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny. 20 to 40 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Thursday

Partly cloudy. 10 to 20 km/h northeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -7 °C.

Friday

Partly cloudy. 5 to 15 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Be especially cautious as you transition into wind-affected terrain.
  • Recent wind has varied in direction, so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
  • Be aware of the potential for larger than expected storm slabs due to buried surface hoar.
  • Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.

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