Vancouver Island

***Updated - 6:18 am PST***

Be prepared to back off slopes and choose more conservative terrain as storm snow accumulates throughout the day.

Wet loose avalanches up to size 2 were observed on the weekend.

If you head into the backcountry, please consider submitting a MIN

Check out this MIN describing conditions and avalanche observations.

Rain has left the snow surface wet at lower elevations and a mix of wet snow and hard melt-freeze crust around treeline. Dry snow may be found in the alpine, which has likely been redistributed by strong southerly wind.

The remainder of the snowpack is strong with numerous hard melt-freeze crusts.

Treeline snow depth ranges from 100 to 180 cm. Snow depth diminishes rapidly at low elevations where rain has prevailed for much of the winter.

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy with 5 mm of mixed precipitation expected, southeast ridgetop wind 15 to 35 km/h, treeline temperature -2°C.

Wednesday

Cloudy with up to 40 mm of mixed precipitation expected, south ridgetop wind 25 to 40 km/h, freezing level rising to 1600 m.

Thursday

Mostly cloudy with up to 10 mm of mixed precipitation expected, southeast ridgetop wind 25 to 40 km/h, freezing level around 1500 m.

Friday

Cloudy with up to 20 mm of mixed precipitation expected, southeast ridgetop wind 30 to 50 km/h, freezing level around 1400 m.

More details can be found in the Mountain Weather Forecast.

• Watch for fresh storm slabs building throughout the day.
• Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and cliffs where the consequence of any avalanche could be serious.
• Watch for newly formed and reactive wind slabs as you transition into wind affected terrain.
• The more the snow feels like a slurpy, the more likely loose wet avalanches will become.
• Avoid thin areas like rock outcroppings where you're most likely to trigger avalanches failing on deep weak layers.