Avalanche Forecast
South Coast
Avalanche danger is expected to remain low for the North Shore mountains, but wet avalanches may still be problematic in the higher elevation alpine terrain of the Squamish area.
Avalanche Problem 1: Loose Wet
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid avalanche terrain during periods of rain.
- Avoid exposure to terrain traps where the consequences of a small avalanche could be serious.
- Minimize overhead exposure during periods of heavy rain.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanche activity has been reported.
Snowpack Summary
On Friday January 5th the rain began to fall in earnest. As of 17:00 on Friday evening the Strachan Precip Station at 1220 m had recorded 53 mm of total rain fall. This rain has saturated the entire snowpack on all but the highest elevation slopes. 50 to 100 cm below the surface there are a few prominent melt-freeze crusts that were buried mid-December. Snowpack investigation Friday afternoon revealed rain is not pooling at these crusts with any significance.
The rain has reduced the snowpack depth at 1000 m to about 140 cm and many early season hazards are still present at lower elevations.
Weather Forecast
A wet weekend is in store for the South Coast. The freezing level is expected to fluctuate through the weekend, look for rain transitioning to snow mid-day Saturday. On Monday the freezing level may creep above the mountains of the South Coast. Stay tuned for more details.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Freezing level around 2000 m, 15 to 20 mm of precipitation expected, moderate southwest wind.
SATURDAY: Clearing skis, freezing level beginning near 1800 m lowering to 1000 m around lunch time, light to moderate west/southwest wind, 7 to 10 mm of precipitation expected.
SUNDAY: Overcast, freezing level around 1000 m, light to moderate southeast wind, 8 to 12 mm of precipitation expected.
MONDAY: Overcast, freezing level beginning around 1100 m rising to about 1400 m in the afternoon, light to moderate southeast wind, 15 to 25 mm of precipitation.
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?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a popular standardized file format allowing up-to-date delivery of web-based content. RSS feeds enable you to receive content updates from websites, delivered to your email through an RSS aggregator (such as blogtrottr.com) or viewed through applications called RSS readers (such as feedly.com).
Set up an RSS feed for your email:
Select a RSS aggregator
- South Coast URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/south-coast.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.
Up to 50 mm of rain has saturated the entire snowpack of the North Shore mountains. The same is likely true of higher elevation terrain in the Squamish area, but very isolated pockets of wet avalanches may remain problematic there.