Vancouver Island Avalanche Bulletin

Vancouver Island Avalanche Bulletin

Date Issued: Monday, March 30, 2009

Valid Until: Thursday April 2, 2009

Bulletin Area: This bulletin covers the mountainous region of Vancouver Island from the Mt. Cain Ski Area in the North to the Beaufort range to the South including the mountains of Strathcona Provincial Park.

DANGER RATINGS

Confidence:

Good - models seem to generally agree on forecast weather and we have some recent snow pack observations.

Primary concerns:

• Warm temperatures and solar radiation causing wet snow avalanches and cornice failures.

Weather:

Warm temperatures and solar radiation have been the main features of the weather in the last two days with freezing levels well above the tops of the island mountains and tree line temperatures staying above freezing in the “coldest” part of the night the last two nights. Similarly warm temperatures and sunshine will continue on Tuesday. Wednesday will see the onset of some cloud and freezing levels starting to drop to reach down to 1000m by evening. Light flurries will start late Wednesday and continue Thursday with freezing levels hovering around 1000m.

Travel advisory:

Remember that snow on steeper, sun exposed slopes tends to lose it’s strength quickly resulting in wet snow avalanches. These avalanches can be very harmful even when they are small given the weight of the sloppy wet material. This is especially true when terrain traps such as trees and cliffs are involved. Keep in mind that especially at and below tree line the snow has not been re-freezing meaning that day time warming can have an effect quite early in the day. Also stay well away from cornices. These are the perfect conditions for them to drop and they tend to be heavy and destructive in their own right not to mention that they can start avalanches.

Snowpack:

Instabilities in previous storm snow are settled now. Shears may exist at melt freeze crusts in the pack and on old surface hoar which is rounding out but these are generally moderate to hard shears. Below tree line snow did not not re-freezing on Sunday night and will not on Monday or Tuesday nights.

Avalanche Activity:

Numerous wet snow avalanches have been observed today.

Outlook:

Warm temperatures and sunshine will continue on Tuesday. Wednesday will see the onset of some cloud and freezing levels starting to drop to reach down to 1000m by evening. Light flurries will start late Wednesday and continue Thursday with freezing levels hovering around 1000m. Expect 5-15cm total accumulation of snow.

Are you traveling in the island back country?

Send our forecasters your observations. We are particularly interested in hearing if you have observed avalanche activity or If you or a member of your party has been involved in an avalanche. Email your observations to the Island Avalanche Bulletin forecasters at info@islandalpineguides.com

Important Notice: This is a regional forecast and significant variation may exist within the forecast area. The information and danger ratings are intended as a trip planning aid for recreational, backcountry users of avalanche terrain; they are not meant to be used as the sole factor in determining the avalanche danger presented by a specific slope. Always include local weather, snowpack and avalanche observations in your decision to travel in avalanche terrain. Observations and experience may lead to different conclusions from what is reported or recommended. See disclaimer for further details. The technical data used to produce these bulletins is obtained from a variety of sources, including local ski areas and remote weather resources.