Northwest Coastal

Conditions are improving, but the consequence of triggering a large persistent slab avalanche warrants a cautious approach to steep open terrain.

High - The weather pattern is stable

MONDAY: Cloudy, 15-30 km/h southwest winds, alpine temperatures around -5 C.TUESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries along the coast, 20-40 km/h southwest winds, freezing level rising to 500 m with alpine temperatures around -3 C.WEDNESDAY: Cloudy with isolated flurries along the coast, 30-50 km/h winds, alpine temperatures around -2 C.

Over the weekend there were several reports of natural and skier triggered wind slabs in the size 1-1.5 range, primarily on west aspects. Evidence of a previous widespread natural avalanche cycle during last week's storm continues to be reported, where size 2 to 3 avalanches released in both the storm snow as well as on deeper surface hoar layers (likely the January 5th).Triggering wind slabs as well as lingering persistent slabs remains a possibility at higher elevations.

Last week's storm delivered 40-60 cm of heavy snow to the south of the region. Since then light flurries and moderate winds have formed fresh wind slabs at higher elevations. Freezing levels reached 1200 m during the storm, which has resulted in a hard supportive crust at lower elevations. At this point there is some uncertainty as to how deeper persistent weak layers are responding to the recent loading and warming. Several weak surface hoar and facet interfaces were reactive during the storm, but have shown signs gaining strength since. This includes the January 5th layer about 50 cm deep and the December 25th layer up to a metre deep. These are not typical conditions for this coastal region, and it will take more time to gain confidence about the distribution and likelihood of triggering these deeply buried weak layers.