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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 4th, 2026–Apr 5th, 2026

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Vancouver Island, East Island, North Island, South Island, West Island.

Much like the chocolate in your pocket, the snow will be hard and crunchy in the morning and soft and melty after a day in the sun.

Confidence

High

  • We have a good understanding of the snowpack structure and confidence in the weather forecast.
  • We are confident the likelihood of avalanches will increase with the forecast weather.

Avalanche Summary

On Thursday, a few small storm slab and loose wet avalanches were reported.

Strong solar input and warming temperatures are rapidly changing conditions. Continue to assess conditions as you travel.

If you are heading into the backcountry, consider sharing your observations and posting a MIN.

Snowpack Summary

High daytime temperatures and clear nights have formed a surface crust in some areas and created wet or slushy surface snow in most others. Expect the snow that is being warmed for the first time to be more reactive, especially where it overlays a buried crust.

30–60 cm of new snow has accumulated at treeline and above so far this week.

Steep south through west facing slopes have a thin, breakable crust that is now down close to 25 cm.

The thick and strong mid-March crust is now expected to be buried by 40-70 cm of mostly settled snow, with the deeper areas being found on the north and west island.

Below this, the rest of the snowpack is well settled and strong.

Weather Summary

Saturday Night
Partly cloudy. 10 km/h west ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 4 °C. Freezing level 2500 m.

Sunday
Sunny. 10 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 8 °C. Freezing level 2700 m.

Monday
Mix of sun and clouds. 20 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 8 °C. Freezing level 2500 m.

Tuesday
Sunny. 30 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature 0 °C. Freezing level 1200 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

Terrain and Travel Advice

  • Avoid steep, sun-exposed slopes when the air temperature is warm or when solar radiation is strong.
  • The more the snowpack warms up and weakens, the more conservative your terrain selection should be.
  • Travel early on sun-exposed slopes before cornices weaken with daytime warming.
  • Use caution above cliffs and terrain traps where even small avalanches may have severe consequences.

Problems

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.