Northwest Coastal

Good - -1

Saturday: Trace amounts of snow expected in the morning with a clearing pattern developing in the afternoon / Light westerly winds switching to Northerly in the afternoon / -12.0 @ 1500mSunday: Clear skies / Light to moderate northerly winds / -15.0 @ 1500mMonday: Clear skies / Moderate to strong northeast wind / -28 @ 1500m

1 size 2, and 1 size 3 were reported from the Bear Pass area. No other avalanches were reported from the region. This may speak more to limited observations due to weather, rather than actual conditions.

Some areas (Terrace, Kaziks) are reporting an alpine snowpack of 5 metres. In these areas the mid-december surface hoar-facet layer is buried down about 250 cm and has not been reactive for quite some time. At this time the biggest issue in the region seems to be new snow instabilities. Although they can be quicker to heal than other weaknesses, they may be highly destructive, especially with this season's pattern of heavy accumulations of snow combined with strong winds.The region received about 20cm of new snow on thursday night which added to the heavy accumulations from last weekend. Wind values during thursday's snowfall are uncertain in the Terrace area. In spots that experienced strong winds during the storm may have thick windslabs that may take another couple of days to settle. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled and strong.Be cautious of large, recently developed cornices. They may be destructive by themselves, or they can become a trigger for an avalanche on the slope below.