Significant avalanche threat builds in B.C. as big warmup arrives
A rising risk for avalanches will span British Columbia in the coming days as temperatures soar.
The season's warmest temperatures will wash across British Columbia through the weekend, setting up the potential for significant avalanches across most of the province's mountain ranges.
The threat is dire enough that Avalanche Canada issued a special public avalanche warning through Monday, May 1, advising that “very large” avalanches are possible as a result of this dramatic warmup.
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A robust ridge of high pressure building over the West Coast will bring a spell of warm temperatures into early next week.
Daytime highs will climb firmly into the 20s throughout Metro Vancouver this weekend, with even warmer temperatures expected for the Interior.
Parts of the Okanagan stand a chance to crack the 30-degree mark during this warm stretch, which would be the first such reading in B.C. this season.
For many, this is the welcome arrival of springtime warmth that feels overdue after so many days and weeks of below-seasonal temperatures throughout the region.
This rapid warmup is bad news for the mountains, unfortunately, as the lurch from cool and snowy to warm and sunny will destabilize the region’s deep snowpack.
Freezing levels will rise well above 3000 m throughout southern sections of the province, leading to the risk for both natural and human-triggered avalanches. This could lead to major avalanches at higher elevations that easily run into the valleys below.
Avalanche Canada issued a special public avalanche warning through Monday, May 1, that covers most of British Columbia’s mountains from Vancouver Island to the Rockies, and all the way north toward the Stikine River.
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The greatest risk for significant avalanches exists across the South Coast and the Interior where forecasters expect the most dramatic warming.
“The effect of the warm temperatures on the existing snowpack structure means that these avalanches will likely be very large and may run to valley bottoms,” Avalanche Canada said in its special public avalanche warning.
Anyone venturing into the backcountry through the duration of this warm spell should exercise extreme caution and avoid regions where avalanches are possible. Avalanche Canada recommends limiting activities to “simple, low angle terrain,” and areas where folks can “avoid all overhead avalanche hazards.”
Thumbnail image courtesy of Unsplash.
Stay with The Weather Network for the latest on B.C.’s warmup and avalanche risk.
