Northwest Coastal

As the recent storm snow settles, the risk of both natural and human-triggered avalanches on steep, sun-exposed slopes will increase throughout the day.

On Tuesday, a variety of avalanches were reported following the recent storm. These include natural loose wet avalanches at lower elevations and natural or skier-triggered storm and wind slab avalanches at higher elevations. All the reported avalanches were relatively small, none exceeding size 2.

Approximately 40 cm of recent snow has buried a widespread crust in all but sheltered, north-facing slopes where isolated pockets of surface hoar and/or faceted grains may exist below the new snow.

Previously problematic layers deeper in the snowpack appear to have bonded and strengthened, however, there is a low likelihood that they could remain a risk in steep, north-facing, high alpine terrain.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear. 0 to 20 km/h northwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -6 °C.

Thursday

Mostly sunny. 0 to 20 km/h north ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Friday

Mostly cloudy. 10 to 30 km/h south ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

Saturday

Cloudy with 2 to 8 cm of snow. 20 to 40 km/h southwest ridgetop wind. Treeline temperature -4 °C.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Give the new snow time to settle and stabilize before pushing into bigger terrain.
• Be especially cautious as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• Avoid sun exposed slopes when the solar radiation is strong, especially if snow is moist or wet