Northwest Coastal

Fair - Timing, track, or intensity of incoming weather is uncertain

Sunday: Light snowfall / moderate southwest winds increasing to strong in the evening / freezing level @ 500m Monday: moderate snowfall developing in the afternoon continuing overnight / strong southwest winds / freezing level @ 700m Tuesday: moderate snowfall / strong southwest winds / freezing level @ 700m

No new avalanche activity to report.

The last week has seen light amounts of snowfall with light winds in most areas. The recently fallen snow sits over a strong melt freeze crust that exists below 1000m on all aspects and over wind-pressed powder on shaded alpine features. Sandwiched between the newer snow and the aforementioned older surfaces may be a buried surface hoar layer at treeline and below. This surface hoar layer seems most prevalent in protected inland areas. We expect to see gradually increasing reactivity in the surface hoar interface with incremental loading forecast for this week. Check out our Forecaster's Blog for some thoughts on incremental loading. The mid and lower snowpack is generally well settled and strong.