Northwest Coastal

Outflow winds are forecast to calm down on Sunday afternoon, but the cold and clear weather is expected to continue into mid-week.

Poor - Due to the number and quality of field observations

Some cloud and light precipitation are expected along the coast on Sunday as a low pressure system moves from the Alaska pan-handle down the coast. Yesterday it looked like that system might move inland and bring moderate precipitation to the coast mountains, but now it looks like the high pressure over the interior will deflect the low down the coast. Inland areas are forecast to be clear and cold for the next few days.

There are no new observations from the region. Please let us know what you're seeing out there. Email us at [email protected].

As we begin our forecasting season, we are working with limited information from the field. This forecast is primarily based off weather station data and a few field observations from the past week or two. Approximately 20-30 cm of cold dry snow has fallen in the past couple days, mainly in the southern part of the region. Moderate or strong easterly winds may have blown this snow into stiff wind slabs in exposed lee terrain. Be alert to signs of wind loading like patterns on the snow surface, variable new snow depths, and dense or hollow sounding snow. A potential weak layer interface (crust and faceted snow) may be buried 30-50 cm deep. Check the bond of the snowpack at this level and take a cautious approach.