If you’re planning on skiing, snowboarding, or even snowshoeing on local mountains this week, you may want to reconsider your plans.
Avalanche Canada has issued warnings for several regions across Western Canada due to what is predicted to be a very warm week of weather that could result in snowpack melting on a large scale, increasing the likelihood of avalanches.
This includes the North Rockies, Cariboo, Jasper National Park, Northwest Inland, and Northwest Coastal areas.
“This is the first big warming to hit our snowpack, which is still fairly complex and winter-like,” explained Senior Avalanche Forecaster Grant Helgeson in a statement. “Any time the snowpack is hit with a big change, it tends to de-stabilize. The temperatures are forecast to increase substantially this week, with no nighttime cooling. This will weaken the snowpack on all aspects, increasing the possibility of large natural avalanches as well making it easier for the weight of a person to trigger deeper weak layers.”
According to Environment Canada, temperatures in northern B.C. this week could reach as high as 14 C by the start of the weekend with no negative temperatures in the evenings.
Mountains are expected to remain open to the public, but Parks Canada is encouraging everyone to check the forecast before heading out beyond ski boundaries and into the backcountry.
More information on how to prepare for a large snowpack melting event is on Avalanche Canada’s website.
⚠️ We've issued a special public avalanche warning for all forecast regions in Western Canada. Warming temperatures are expected to destabilize the snow pack, resulting in the potential for large avalanches.
— Avalanche Canada (@avalancheca) March 18, 2019
Read the full warning 👉https://t.co/8uFEZUHqA4 pic.twitter.com/GLigHpqchF