North Columbia

Recent rainfall has created a crust at all elevations with limited new snow above. Travel cautiously with poor snow quality and newly-formed wind slabs.

Low - Due to the number of field observations

The next wave of precipitation is expected to begin Saturday evening and may transition from snow to rain to snow again.SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy with isolated flurries, moderate to strong southwesterly winds, freezing levels near 1500 m. Snowfall to begin Saturday evening.SUNDAY: 10-15 mm precipitation throughout the day with snow switching to rain Sunday morning, moderate strong southerly winds, freezing levels rising to around 2100 m.MONDAY: Mostly cloudy, light to moderate westerly winds, freezing level near 1400 m.

Many loose wet avalanches were observed on Thursday. Temperatures cooled down on Friday and wet avalanche activity has quieted down. We currently have very limited observations in this region; please submit your observations to the Mountain Information Network (MIN).

The depth of the snowpack varies greatly with elevation. Recent reports suggest the average depth is 150 to 200 cm in the alpine, 100-150cm at treeline, and decreasing rapidly below treeline where the primary hazards are rocks, stumps, and open creeks.10 to 20 cm of new snow and moderate to strong winds may have formed wind slabs at treeline and alpine elevations. The new snow sits on a thick crust formed from the rain that fell to mountain tops on Wednesday and Thursday. The snowpack shrunk with the rain and should be well-settled at all elevations. Deeper in the snowpack, there are two weak layers, including a layer down around 50 to 80 cm at treeline elevations as well as a crust with weak facets around it down around 80 to 130 cm. The layer down 50 to 80 cm may be more prominent in the northern area of the forecast region and the crust may be widespread across the forecast region. Both layers may not be as prominent below treeline, particularly below 1500 m. We currently have very limited snowpack observations within this region and it is critical to supplement this information with your own observations.