Heavy snow, rain and wind over the southern coastal region of B.C. has raised the avalanche risk to extreme, high or considerable in many areas, Avalanche Canada warned in a Thursday post on X (formerly Twitter).
“A stormy Christmas Day means dangerous avalanche conditions will continue,” the organization said. “Boxing Day will be a time to enjoy non-avalanche terrain in these regions.”
New snow on the North Shore has pushed the avalanche rating to extreme at the alpine levels. This includes the popular ski hills on Seymour, Grouse and Cypress mountains.
The danger also remains high at the treeline level, according to Avalanche Canada’s website.
“Storm slab size and sensitivity to triggering will likely increase through the day,” the website warned. “We expect that widespread, large, natural and human-triggered avalanches will be very likely throughout the storm.”
Avalanche Canada also said new snow and extreme winds on Vancouver Island are expected to build reactive storm slabs.
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Emily Jones, an avalanche forecaster for Avalanche Canada, said in an interview on Thursday that the extreme rating at the moment is due to “rapid loading” with lots of snowfall and wind that had been happening in the past 24 hours.
She said the avalanche conditions will be “settled and stabilized” on Friday with the hazard rating dropping to a level three out of five due to “a little break between storms.”
But Jones said people who plan to go backcountry still need to have heightened risk awareness and use cautious routes as they go.
The good news is the avalanche danger will not stay and be extreme for a long period as we head into January, said Jones.
Wind and stormy weather prompted BC Ferries to cancel several Thursday morning sailings on the Tsawwassen-Duke Point and Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay routes. Afternoon sailings were running on schedule as the wind died down.
Heavy weather also knocked out power for thousands of people. As of Thursday morning, just under 1,700 Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast customers were still without power. Another 300 customers on Vancouver Island were also without power.
Further inland, a snowfall warning has been issued for the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt. A winter storm warning is also in place for Highway 3 from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass.
A Pacific frontal system impacting the interior could bring around 15 cm of snow to the Coquihalla on Thursday.
Highway 3 could see 20 to 30 cm of snow before the evening. Wind gusts of up to 50 km/h could produce blowing snow and reduced visibility on the roads.
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