Northwest Coastal

Synopsis: The next Low pressure system is tracking south of the region so the NW is setting up for little precipitation, light wind, and continuted cool temperatures over the next few days.Sunday: Light to moderate SW wind with light & localized convective snow squalls and alpine temperatures around -8C and below freezing temperatures right to the valley.Monday & Tuesday: Light SW or W wind, light & localized snow flurries, continued cool temperatures with below zero at all elevations.

Near Stewart only small loose slides from sttep cliffy terrain; otherwise no new naturals reported. Near the Shames backcountry evidence of a mid-week natural cycle of small (size 1 to 1.5) slabs was reported. No new recent reports from Terrace were received.

The storm forecast for today (Saturday) didn't seem to make it onshore with any great punch, only light accumulations reported away from the coast. The upper snowpack should be mostly slowly settling powder with pockets of windslab or wind affected snow in exposed areas. Below this, near Shames at least, there may be some patchy surface hoar. Deeper in the snowpack professionals continue to monitor a crust down near the ground. It seems this problem is confined to  alpine areas and likely needs a large trigger and / or a shallow snow pack feature to trigger.