Northwest Coastal

Natural persistent slab avalanche activity has tapered, however a cautious approach is warranted as there is still potential for human triggered persistent slabs.

Recent reports from the past few days indicate wind slab and persistent slab avalanche activity to size 1.5 and 2.5 in the alpine. These were reported as natural and skier triggered, were 20-40 cm deep and were all suspected of running on surface hoar crystals buried early March. A few of these were remotely triggered (from a distance).

20-40 cm of recent snow is being redistributed by primarily southerly winds. This new snow fell on a widespread layer of large surface hoar crystals, which sits on a crust on solar aspects and at low elevations. This layer has been reactive in recent days where a slab has consolidated above.

A layer of facets, surface hoar and/or a crust from mid-February is buried 50 to 100 cm deep. This layer produced large natural and human-triggered avalanches last week.

The remainder of the snowpack is well consolidated with no concerns at this time.

Thursday Night

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with 0 to 1 cm of snow. 20 to 30 km/h east ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -11 °C.

Saturday

Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries. 15 to 25 km/h south and southeast ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Sunday

Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries. 20 to 30 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -5 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Recent wind has varied in direction, so watch for wind slabs on all aspects.
• If triggered, wind slabs avalanches may step down to deeper layers resulting in larger avalanches.
• Be aware of the potential for larger than expected storm slabs due to buried surface hoar.
• Be mindful that deep instabilities are still present and have produced recent large avalanches.