Avalanche Forecast
South Coast Inland
Natural avalanche activity is expected to tapper off early Saturday morning, but human triggered avalanches remain possible or even likely in wind loaded features, especially those that are steep and unsupported.
Avalanche Problem 1: Storm Slabs
What Elevation?
Which Slopes?
Chances of Avalanches?
Expected Size?
Travel and Terrain Advice
- Avoid wind loaded pockets at and above treeline, especially those near ridge crest and roll-overs.
- Avoid large convexities and steep unsupported slopes.
- The new snow could use a day or two to settle before we start to tee up the bigger lines.
Avalanche Summary
On Thursday a natural avalanche cycle was reported on steep unsupported features which produced storm slabs up to size 1.5 with crowns 10 to 15 cm in depth. A skier triggered size 1.5 avalanche on an unsupported feature at treeline was also reported.
Snowpack Summary
Thursday's storm produced about 25 cm of storm snow in the north of the region and around 40 cm in the south. Winds have largely been out of the southwest throughout the storm. The new storm snow covers a medley of surfaces which include stubborn wind slabs and wind-scoured exposed crust in the alpine, and loose faceted snow as well as isolated surface hoar in sheltered areas at treeline and below.
Variable amounts of snow (up to 100 cm around the Coquihalla and about 20 to 50 cm in the Duffey area) overlie a widespread melt-freeze crust that was buried on December 15th. As of late, this layer has not produced much in the way of avalanche activity, but it could come to life with the additional load of new snowfall, especially in areas where loose facets exist above the crust.
Beneath the December 15th layer, the lower snowpack is generally strong and well settled.
Weather Forecast
One last blast of Pacific moisture is set to clash with the Arctic air mass over the province as a low pressure system moves towards the Lower Mainland late Friday. As was the case with Thursday's storm, alpine precipitation will fall as snow with only the North Shore Mountains at risk of seeing some liquid precipitation creeping up the slopes as warm air associated with the low just clips the Lower Mainland.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Freezing level at valley bottom, 5 to 20 cm of snow possible, strong southwest wind.
SATURDAY: Skies clearing throughout the day, freezing level at valley bottom, light to moderate west/northwest wind, trace of snow possible.
SUNDAY: A few clouds, clearing in the afternoon, freezing level at valley bottom, light variable wind, no snow expected.
MONDAY: Scattered cloud cover, freezing level at valley bottom, light variable wind, no snow expected.
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 Inland URL:
http://www.avalanche.ca/api/forecasts/south-coast-inland.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.
Any natural activity induced by Friday night's storm should quickly taper off Saturday morning, but you need to remain vigilant in your travel practices, especially when it comes to avoiding convexities, terrain traps and wind loaded slopes.