Vancouver Island Avalanche Bulletin

Vancouver Island Avalanche Bulletin

Date Issued: Friday, April 10, 2009

Valid Until: Sunday April 12, 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 - for Friday and Saturday and fair for Sunday due to conflicting amounts of precip and timing for the next frontal system on Sunday night.  Hazard could remain low if freezing levels remain low and forecasted precip turns out to be much lower.

Primary concerns:

• Wet snow avalanches on solar aspects from the sun and from the rain that could arrive on sunday.

Weather:

Lower freezing levels around 1000m and dropping slightly through the forecast period with some light precip over the next few days.  Accumulations are not expected to be more than 10-15cms over the next 3 days.

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:

Although our upper snowpack has gained strength and small amounts of new snow have bonded well to the old surface, warm temps and the addition of rain to the snow pack can destabilize the upper pack very quickly.

Avalanche Activity:

No new avalanches have been observed over the last 72hrs.

Outlook:

Pacific front will arrive sometime Sunday afternoon to Monday morning bringing with it heavy precip possibly in the form of rain at higher elevations. Plan on the avalanche hazard rising at this time due to the addition of rain to the snowpack.

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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.