Pineapple Express hits BC

Avalanche Canada’s danger rating has dropped down from high to considerable in many areas across British Columbia, but human triggered avalanches are still likely.

Mark Grist, Public Avalanche Forecaster said recently the danger has been elevated across a broad area of British Columbia.

"The snowpack will stabilize over a period of time," he said. "Instead of four out of five, it is a three out of five."

This still means there are dangerous avalanche conditions out there. 

“We’ve had this prolonged period of active weather heavy snowfall in Revelstoke, flooding on Vancouver Island... its been quite widespread across the southern part of the province,” said Grist. 

Grist said the recent system was particularly strong.

“The technical term is an atmospheric river, the colloquial term is a Pineapple Express,” he said. “We just had a big wave of moisture come from south that was quite warm and it dumped a lot of rain on the coast and dumped a lot of snow farther into the Columbias.”

Grist said we get a couple of these a year and it is not particularly unusual, but this was a strong one.

Avalance Canada recommends checking the forecast before heading out and to make sure the terrain is appropriate for conditions.