Avalanche Forecast
Sea To Sky
The storm marches on! With more warm, wet, and, windy weather in the forecast, dangerous avalanche conditions will persist on Monday.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of heavy loading from new snow and wind.
- Be aware of the potential for wide propagations due to the presence of hard windslabs.
- Use extra caution if the snow surface is moist and especially avoid gully features.
Avalanche Problem 2: Deep Persistent Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Large triggers such as a falling cornice or smaller storm slab avalanches may step-down to deeply buried crusts, resulting in large and destructive avalanches running full path.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.
Avalanche Problem 3: Cornices
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Large amounts of recent new snow and high winds are creating rapid cornice growth.
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Falling cornices may trigger large avalanches on the slopes below.
- Give cornices a wide berth when travelling on or below ridges.
Avalanche Summary
Reports from Saturday showed explosives control in the Whistler area producing numerous storm slab results from Size 1.5-2, as well as several Size 1.5 cornice releases.
Throughout this region there has been evidence of a natural avalanche cycle up to size 3 that occurred within the storm snow on Wednesday. More notable are the numerous explosive triggered, very large avalanches up to size 3.5 that where reported near Whistler on Thursday. Two additional explosive triggered 3.5's were reported Friday. These avalanches started in the storm snow and then stepped down to the early January and even the mid-December crusts which resulted in very large avalanches running full path. They occurred on northwesterly aspects below rocky ridgetops between 1950-2200 m. Although these layers are over 200 cm beneath the snow surface, a large trigger such as a falling cornice or a smaller human triggered avalanche has the potential to "step-down" to these layers, which would result in a large and destructive avalanche.
Snowpack Summary
Another 10-20 cm of new snow on Sunday morning brings recent storm totals to around 90-120 cm. This snow continues to be redistributed by strong southeasterly winds, creating dense storm slabs in lee and cross-loaded features. Impressive cornice growth has also been observed on the lee side of ridgetops.
A crust that was buried in early January is buried 200-250cm below the surface at all elevations. Below this there is another crust which was buried in mid-December. Recent explosive control work has triggered storm slab avalanches that have "stepped down" to both of these crusts, resulting in very large avalanches running full path. Although these layers are over 200 cm beneath the snow surface, continued potential exists for large triggers such as a falling cornice or a smaller human triggered avalanche to "step-down" to these layers. This would result in a very large and destructive avalanche.
Weather Forecast
Sunday night: Heavy snowfall bringing 30-40 cm of new snow. Rain below about 1100 metres. Strong to extreme south winds.
Monday: Continuing snowfall bringing 20-30 cm of new snow. Rain below about 1100 metres. Strong to extreme southwest winds. Freezing level to about 1500 metres with alpine high temperatures around -2.
Tuesday: Cloudy with continuing flurries bringing approximately 5 cm of new snow. Moderate southwest winds. Freezing level to 900 metres with alpine high temperatures of -6.
Wednesday: Mainly cloudy with isolated flurries and a trace of new snow. Light west winds. Freezing level to 700 metres with alpine high temperatures of -7.
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New snow, strong winds, and rising temperatures will create another round of touchy storm slabs. Storm slab danger will likely increase with elevation, however rising temperatures and rain will promote loose wet avalanches at lower elevations.