Avalanche Forecast
Northwest Coastal
The best skiing and riding conditions are likely found on northerly aspects at upper elevations. Pay attention to changing conditions if the sun comes out.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Watch for signs of instability such as avalanche activity, whumpfing, hollow sounds or cracking.
Avalanche Problem 2: Loose Wet
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
The sun can really pack a punch this time of year. Avoid solar slopes that become moist or wet.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if snow is moist or wet.
- Avoid exposure to terrain traps where the consequences of a small avalanche could be serious.
Avalanche Summary
On Monday, we received reports of a skier triggered size 1 wind slab on a north-east aspect near 1600m elevation. The slab averaged 20cm thickness and ran on the March 9th surface hoar / facet layer.
Last weekend, the region was active with a range of reports from large size 3 wet slabs which stepped down to the mid-December ice layer to a remotely triggered persistent slab (size 2), which stepped down to the mid-January surface hoar interface, running on an east aspect near 1600m.
Snowpack Summary
The snowpack consists of a wide variety of snow surfaces, including up to 20 cm of new snow at higher elevations, pockets of wind slab, a melt-freeze crust on south-west aspects an wet snow down low, On March 9th, surface hoar and/or smaller facets (on sheltered, shady aspects) were buried by the last significant snowfall down 10-25 cm. This layer was reactive to skier triggers in some areas on Monday.
Deeper in the mid-pack, layers of crusts, facets, and isolated surface hoar buried 50 to 100 cm exist from mid- and late-February and a surface hoar/ crust layer from January is buried around 150 to 200 cm. Near the bottom of the snowpack, sugary facets exist in colder and dryer parts of the region, such as the far north.
Weather Forecast
Wednesday: Mix of sun and cloud with light precipitation. Alpine temperatures near -1.0 and freezing levels at valley bottom. Ridgetop winds light gusting strong from the northeast.
Thursday: 10-20 cm of new snow in upper elevations accompanied by strong ridgetop winds from the East. Freezing levels near 500 m and rising through the day to 1200 m.
Friday: Cloudy with isolated flurries. Alpine high of -3 and freezing levels near 700 m. Light winds from the East.
Avalanche Forecasts in your Inbox
Avalanche Canada has switched to an RSS feed for its daily forecasts. This is a much more flexible method that allows automatic delivery to your email inbox, or to an RSS reader of your choice.
What are RSS feeds?
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Set up an RSS feed for your email:
Select a RSS aggregator
- Northwest Coastal URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/northwest-coastal.rss - Copy the url and paste it into the appropriate field of your RSS aggregator.
- Fill in your email address.
- Voila! Watch the Avalanche Canada forecast roll into your inbox.
Forecast Disclaimer
Avalanche Canada's Public Avalanche Bulletin, and other information and services provided by Avalanche Canada, are intended for personal and recreational purposes only.
**THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IN NO EVENT SHALL THE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM DISCOMFORT, INJURY, OR DEATH, CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES OR FOR OTHER SIMILAR COSTS, OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE INFORMATION.**
The user acknowledges that it is impossible to accurately predict natural events such as avalanches in every instance, and uses the data in this bulletin with this always foremost in mind. The accuracy or reliability of the data is not guaranteed or warranted in any way and the Providers disclaim liability of any kind whatsoever, including, without limitation, liability for quality, performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arising out of the use, or inability to use the data.
New snow may bond poorly to the old snow surface, especially if it's a firm sun crust or hard wind slab. Smaller avalanches may trigger a deeper surface hoar layer buried March 9th. Uncertainty remains around the distribution of this layer.